{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_4273/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_4273","id":"gutenberg_4273","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4273","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Health & Medicine","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Naturopathy"],"text":"Ver.10/04/01*END*\n\n\n\nSubmitted by Steve Solomon <ssolomon@soilandhealth.org>\n\nNature Cure\n\nPhilosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & Cure\n\n\n\nHenry Lindlahr, M.D.\n\n\n\n\"Ho, ye who suffer! Know ye suffer from vowselves. None else\ncompels--no other holds ye that ye live or die. \"~--Siddartha~\n\n\nTO THE PROGRESSIVE PHYSICIANS OF THE AGE\n\n\nThere are two principal methods of treating disease. One is the\ncombative, the other the preventive. The trend of modern medical\nresearch and practice in our great colleges and endowed research\ninstitutes is almost entirely along combative lines, while the\nindividual, progressive physician learns to work more and more along\npreventive lines. The slogan of modern medical science is, \"Kill the\ngerm and cure the disease.\" The usual procedure is to wait until\nacute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if\npossible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and\nby means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums,\nantitoxins, vaccines, etc. The combative method fights disease with\ndisease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products.\nIn the language of the Good Book, it is \"Beelzebub against the\nDevil.\"\n\nThe preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully\ndeveloped and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates\nits best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural\nmethods of treatment, the development of diseases. By these it\nendeavors to put the human body in such a normal, healthy condition\nthat it is practically proof against infection or contagion by\ndisease taints and miasms, and against the inroads of germs,\nbacteria and parasites.\n\nThe question is, which method is the most practical, the most\nsuccessful and most popular? Which will stand the test of \"the\nsurvival of the fittest\" in the great struggle for existence?\n\nThe medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads\nmade in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults\nof treating human ailments; but instead of raging at the audacious\npresumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire\nif there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and\npopularity of these therapeutic innovations?\n\nTheir success undoubtedly is based on the fact that they concentrate\ntheir best efforts on preventive instead of combative methods of\ntreating disease. People are beginning to realize that it is cheaper\nand more advantageous to prevent disease than to cure it. To create\nand maintain continuous, buoyant good health means greater\nefficiency for mental and physical work; greater capacity for the\ntrue enjoyment of life, and the best insurance against failure and\npoverty. Therefore, he who builds health is of greater value to\nhumanity than he who allows people to drift into disease through\nignorance of Nature's laws, and then attempts to cure them by\ndoubtful and uncertain combative methods.\n\nIt is said that in China the physician is hired and paid by the\nyear; that he receives a certain stipend as long as the members of\nthe family are in good health, but that the salary is suspended as\nlong as one of his charges is ill. If some similar method of\nengaging and paying for medical services were in vogue in this\ncountry the trend of medical research and practice would soon\nundergo a radical change.\n\nThe diet expert, the hydropath, the physical culturist, the adjuster\nof the spine, the mental healer, and Christian scientist, do not pay\nmuch attention to the pathological conditions or to the symptoms of\ndisease. They regulate the diet and habits of living on a natural\nbasis, promote elimination, teach correct breathing and wholesome\nexercise, correct the mechanical lesions of the spine, establish the\nright mental and emotional attitude and, in so far as they succeed\nin doing this, they build health and diminish the possibility of\ndisease. The successful doctor of the future will have to fall in\nline with the procession and do more teaching than prescribing.\n\nI realize that many of the statements and claims made in this volume\nwill seem radical and irrational to my colleagues of the regular\nschool of medicine. They win say that most of my teachings are\ncontrary to the firmly established theories of medical science. All\nI ask, of them is not to judge too hastily; to observe, to think and\nto test, and I am certain that they will find verified in actual\nexperience many of the teachings of the Nature Cure Philosophy.\nMedical science has had to abandon innumerable theories and\npractices which at one time were as firmly established as some of\nthe pet theories of today.\n\nBy none of the statements made in this book do I mean to deny the\nnecessity of combative methods under certain circumstances. What I\nwish to emphasize is that the regular school of medicine is spending\ntoo much of its effort along combative lines and not enough along\npreventive. It would be foolish to deny the necessity of surgery in\ntraumatism, and in abnormal conditions which require mechanical\nmeans of adjustment or treatment.\n\nSuch necessity, for instance, will exist in certain obstetrical\ncases, as long as women have not learned, or are not willing to live\nin such a way as to make surgical intervention unnecessary in\nchild-birth. The same is true with regard to the treatment of germ\ndiseases. As long as people persist in violating the laws of their\nbeing, and thereby making their bodies prolific breeding grounds for\ndisease taints, germs and parasites which are bound to provoke\ninflammatory, feverish processes (Nature's cleansing and healing\nefforts), combative measures will have to be resorted to by the\nphysician, and precautionary measures against infection will have to\nbe observed, but these should be in harmony with Nature's endeavors,\nnot contrary and suppressive; they should tend to conserve and not\nto destroy.\n\nNatural dietetics, fasting, hydropathy, osteopathy, chiropractic,\nand mental therapeutics, are combative as well as preventive, but if\nproperly applied they do not in any way injure the organism or\ninterfere with Nature's intent and Nature's methods. This cannot be\nsaid for much of the surgical and medical treatment of the old\nschool of medicine. We criticize and condemn only those methods\nwhich are suppressive and destructive instead of curative.\n\nIn many instances already the warnings and teachings of Nature Cure\nPhilosophy have been verified, and had to be heeded and accepted by\nmedical science. The exponents of Nature Cure protested against the\nbarbarous practice of withholding water from patients burning in\nfever heat, and against the exclusion of fresh air from the sickroom\nby order of the doctor. The cold water and no drug treatment of\ntyphoid fever, the water treatment for other acute diseases, as well\nas the open air treatment for tuberculosis, were forced upon the\nmedical profession by the Nature Cure people. For more than half a\ncentury the latter have been curing all inflammaory, feverish\ndiseases, from simple colds to scarlet fever, diphtheria,\ncerebro-spinal meningitis, smallpox, appendicitis, etc., etc., by\nhydropathy, fasting, and other natural methods, without resorting at\nall to the use of poisonous drugs, antitoxins and surgical\noperations.\n\nFor many years before the terrible after-effects of X-Ray treatment,\nof extirpation of the ovaries, the womb, and of other vital organs,\nbecame so patent that the physicians of the regular school could not\nignore them any longer, Nature Cure physicians had strongly warned\nagainst these unnatural practices, and called attention to their\ndestructive after-effects.\n\nAs far back as ten years ago, when the X-Rays were in high favor for\nthe treatment of cancer, lupus, and other diseases, I warned against\nthe use of these rays, claiming that their vibratory velocity was\ntoo high and powerful, and therefore destructive to the tissues of\nthe human body. Since the failure of the X-Rays and the discovery of\nRadio-activity, the rays and emanations of radium and other\nradio-active substances are widely advertised and exploited as\ntherapeutic agents, but these rays also are far beyond the vibratory\nranges of the physical body in velocity and power. Therefore, it\nremains to be seen whether their injurious by and after-effects do\nnot out-weigh in the long run their beneficial effects.\n\nThe destructive action of these high power rays, as well as of\ninorganic minerals, is very slow and insidious, manifesting only in\nthe course of many years. This new field of therapeutics, therefore,\nhas not yet passed the stage of dangerous experimentation.\n\nInorganic minerals prove injurious and destructive to the tissues of\nthe human body because they are too slow in vibratory velocity, and\ntoo coarse in molecular structure.\n\nIt is the intent and purpose of this volume to warn against the\nexploitation of destructive combative methods to the neglect of\npreventive constructive and conservative methods. If these teachings\ncontribute something toward this end they will fulfil their mission.\n\nThe Author\n\nChicago, Nov., 1913.\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nIt was the following letter from Mr. William Louden to the editor of\n~\"Health Culture\"~ which prompted the author to issue the ~\"Nature\nCure Magazine\"~ (published from November, 1907, to October, 1909).\nIn the series of books of which this is the first volume, he will\nendeavor to collect and systematize all his former writings in the~\n\"Nature Cure Magazine,\" \"Health Culture,\" \"Life and Action,\"~ the\n~\"Naturopath,\"~ the ~\"Volksrath,\"~ and other publications, and to\namplify these by new material obtained through further research and\nwider experience.\n\nMr. Albert Turner,\n\nEditor of ~\"Health Culture.\"~\n\nDEAR SIR--I write to ask what you consider the best book or pamphlet\nto put into the hands of people generally, in regard to the\npreservation of health. I know ther e are a number of very excellent\npublications, but as a rule they deal with certain details or phases\nof the question, and do not begin with the great underlying\nprinciples in such a way as to attract and hold the attention of the\nmasses. One advocates one plan, and another an entirely different,\nand sometimes a directly opposite plan--such as uncooked vs.\nthoroughly cooked food; a strictly vegetarian diet, and mental\nculture in place of attention to either, etc. Such a state of\naffairs makes it confusing to average people and gets them to\nbelieve that health reformers are all at sea, and what is good for\none is not good for another, or, in common language, \"what is one\nman's meat is another's poison.\"\n\nNow, I know it is natural, and doubtless best, that there should be\na difference of opinion on any question, but at the same time, if\nany movement is to be crowned with great success, there should be\nsome underlying principles upon which all should agree, and these\nshould be pressed to the forefront, so as to attract and hold the\nattention of the people, in place of the divergent details upon\nwhich they disagree. If these fundamental laws and principles are\nthoroughly studied and well defined, it may be found that they would\nexplain the discrepancies between the different theories, and that\nunder certain conditions, one plan is best, and that under different\nconditions another plan is more applicable, etc. The pushing of\nthese fundamental principles to the front would also tend to correct\nerrors into which the different theorists have fallen, and would\ncertainly tend to make the different theories more homogeneous and\nmore easily understood by people in general, than at present.\n\nIn my opinion, the general fundamental principles of life and health\nare what people need to understand more than anything else. Without\nthis, most of the details will be meaningless or at least confusing\ndogmas. I don't mean by these fundamental principles the details of\nanatomy, or, for that matter, the details of anything else, but the\ngeneral rules governing life and death, so that people may know\nwhich way they, are tending, and may understand the many illusions\nwith which life and death, as well as all else in nature are beset.\n\nYours truly,\n\nWILLIAM LOUDEN\n\nLouden Mfg. Co.,\n\nFairfield, Iowa.\n\n\n\nThe present volume and others of the \"Nature Cure Series\" which are\nto follow are an attempt to answer Mr. Louden's inquiry and to\nformulate and elucidate the fundamental laws of health, disease and\ncure for which he and many others have been vainly seeking. Who\namong you at some time or another, has not thought and felt like Mr.\nLouden and in doubt and perplexity voiced Pilate's query,\n\nWhat Is Truth?\n\nThe exact information and rational method of teaching which Mr.\nLouden is seeking, has heretofore been wanting in health-culture\nliterature.\n\nMany, indeed, stand ready and willing to show the way to physical,\nmental and moral perfection. Hundreds, yes, thousands, of different\ncults, isms, teachers, books and periodicals treat of these\nsubjects, but their teachings are so manifold, so contradictory and\nconfusing, that one becomes bewildered amid the ever increasing\ntestimony. As is often the case in the study of complicated\nsubjects, the more one reads and the more one hears, the less one\nknows. I believe that no one has described more strikingly this\nstate of general perplexity than Mr. Louden in his excellent letter.\n\nNevertheless, these simple fundamental laws and principles really\nexist. They must exist, because everything in Nature, including the\nprocesses of health, of disease and cure, of birth, of life and\ndeath, are subject to law and order.\n\nAllopathy, or Old School Medical Science, admits that it does not\nknow these fundamental principles; that it reasons, not from\nunderlying causes, but from external symptoms and personal\nexperiences. It is, therefore, self-confessedly full of doubts,\nerrors and confusion; in short, empirical--and necessarily, a\nfailure.\n\nMany teachers of Nature Cure, Hygiene and Health cults have stumbled\naccidentally upon some of the natural laws and true methods of\nhealing, but have failed to grasp and to formulate the broad\nunderlying principles. For this reason they are often partly right\nand partly wrong and very apt to overdo certain methods to the\nneglect of others just as effective and essential, or even more so.\n\nI shall endeavor in these volumes to formulate and elucidate some of\nthe fundamental laws and principles underlying the phenomena of life\nand death, health, disease and cure, and shall try to ascertain in\nthe light of these laws how much of truth and how much of error, how\nmuch of usefulness and how much of harmfulness there may be\ncontained in the various theories and systems of living and of\nhealing.\n\nNature Owe an Exact Science\n\nOne of the reasons why Nature Cure is not more popular with the\nmedical profession and the public is that it is too simple. The\naverage mind is more impressed by the involved and mysterious than\nby the simple and common-sense.\n\nHowever, it remains a fact that \"exact science\" reduces complexity\nand confusion to simplicity and clearness. Science becomes exact\nscience only when the underlying laws which correlate and unify its\nscattered facts and theories have been discovered.\n\nThese simple laws rightly understood and applied will do for medical\nscience what the law of gravitation has done for physics and\nastronomy, and what the laws of chemical affinity have done for\nchemistry, they will place medical science in the ranks of exact\nsciences. The understanding and proper application of these truths\nwill explain every fact and phenomenon in the processes of health,\ndisease and cure, and will enable the student to reason from simple,\nnatural laws and principles to their logical effects. The \"Regular\"\nschool of medicine, so far, has endeavored to build a medical\nscience on the observation of \"effects\" and \"experiences,\" but\nsince one fundamental law of nature may produce a million seemingly\ndiffering effects it becomes self-evident that it is utterly\nimpossible to found an exact science on such uncertain and\nconflicting evidence.\n\nThe primary laws and principles once understood, it becomes easy to\nreason from and to explain through them, the various phenomena which\nthey produce. Herein lie the merit and achievement of the Nature\nCure philosophy.\n\nTHE UPAS TREE OF DISEASE\n\nEVIL IS NOT AN ACCIDENT, NOT AN ARBITRARY PUNISHMENT, NOT ALWAYS AN\n\"ERROR OF MORTAL MIND.\" IT IS THE NATURAL AND INEVITABLE RESULT OF\nVIOLATIONS OF NATURE'S LAWS. IT IS INSTRUCTIVE AND CORRECTIVE IN\nPURPOSE, AND WILL REMAIN WITH US ONLY AS LONG AS WE NEED ITS\nSALUTARY LESSONS.\n\n\n\nChapter I\n\n\nWhat ~Is~ Nature Cure?\n\n\nIt is vastly more than a system of curing aches and pains; it is a\ncomplete revolution in the art and science of living. It is the\npractical realization and application of all that is good in natural\nscience, philosophy and religion. Like many another world-wide\nrevolution and reformation, it had its inception in Germany, the\nland of thinkers and philosophers.\n\nAbout seventy years ago this greatest and most beneficent of\nreformation movements was inaugurated by Priessnitz in Grafenberg, a\nsmall village in the Silesian mountains. The originator of Nature\nCure was a simple farmer, but he had a natural genius for the art of\nhealing.\n\nHis pharmacopeia consisted not in poisonous pills and potions but in\nplenty of exercise, fresh mountain air, water treatments in the\ncool, sparkling brooks, and simple, wholesome country fare,\nconsisting largely of black bread, vegetables, and milk fresh from\ncows fed on nutritious mountain grasses.\n\nThe results accomplished by these simple means were wonderful.\nBefore he died, a large sanitarium, filled with patients from all\nover the world and from all stations of life, had grown up around\nhis forest home.\n\nAmong those who made the pilgrimage to Grafenberg to become patients\nand students of this genial healer, the simple-minded\nfarmer-physician, were wealthy merchants, princes and doctors from\nall parts of the world.\n\nRapidly the idea of drugless healing spread over Germany and over\nthe civilized world. In the Fatherland, Hahn the apothecary, Kuhne\nthe weaver, Rikli the manufacturer, Father Kneipp the priest,\nLahmann the doctor, and Turnvater Jahn, the founder of physical\nculture, became enthusiastic pupils and followers of Priessnitz.\n\nEach one of these men enlarged and enriched some special field of\nthe great realm of natural healing. Some elaborated the water cure\nand natural dietetics, others invented various systems of\nmanipulative treatment, earth, air and light cures, magnetic\nhealing, mental therapeutics, curative gymnastics, etc., etc. Von\nPeckzely added the Diagnosis from the Eye, which reveals not only\nthe innermost secrets of the human organism, but also Nature's ways\nand means of cure, and the changes for better or for worse\ncontinually occurring in the body.\n\nIn this country, Dr. Trall of New York, Dr. Jackson of Danville, Dr.\nKellogg of Battle Creek, and others caught the infection and crossed\nthe ocean to become students of Priessnitz. The achievements of\nthese men in their respective fields of endeavor will stand as\nenduring monuments to the eternal truths revealed by the genius of\nNature Cure.\n\nQuimby, the itinerant spiritualist and healer, became successful and\nrenowned by the application of the natural methods of cure. At first\nhis favorite methods were water, massage, magnetic and mental\ntreatment. Gradually he concentrated his efforts on metaphysical\nmethods of cure, and before he died, he evolved a complete system of\nmagnetic and mental therapeutics.\n\nQuimby's teachings and methods were adopted by Mrs. Eddy, his most\nenthusiastic pupil, and by her elaborated into Christian Science,\nthe latest and most successful of modern mental-healing cults.\n\nDr. Still of Kirksville, Missouri, made a valuable addition to\nnatural methods of treatment by the invention of Osteopathy, a\nsystem of scientific manipulation of the bony structures, nerves and\nnerve centers, muscles and ligaments. A later development of\nmanipulative science is Chiropractic, originated by Dr. Palmer of\nDavenport, Iowa. Thus the simple pioneers of German Nature Cure,\nevery one of them gifted by Nature with the instinct and genius of\nthe true healer, who is born, not made, laid the foundation for the\nworldwide modern healthculture movement.\n\nThey were not blinded or confused by the conflicting theories of\nbooks and authorities, or by the action of a thousand different\ndrugs on a legion of different symptoms, but applied common-sense\nreasoning to the solution of the problems of health, disease and\ncure.\n\nThey went for inspiration to field and forest rather than to the\nmurky atmosphere of the dissecting and vivisection rooms. They\nstudied the whole and not only the parts, causes as well as effects\nand symptoms. Realizing that man had lost his natural instinct and\nstrayed far from Nature's ways, they studied and imitated the\nnatural habits of the animal creation rather than the confusing\ndoctrines of the schools.\n\nThus they proclaimed the \"return to Nature\" and the \"new gospel of\nhealth,\" which are destined to free humanity from the destructive\ninfluences of alcoholism, red meat overeating, the dope and tobacco\nhabit, and of drug poisoning, vaccination, surgical mutilation,\nvivisection and a thousand other abuses practiced in the name of\nscience.\n\nWhen parents learn how to create children in accord with natural\nlaw, how to mold their bodies and their characters into harmony and\nbeauty before the new life sees the light of day, when they learn to\nrear their offspring in health of body and purity of mind in harmony\nwith the laws of their being, then we shall have true types of\nbeautiful manhood and womanhood, then children will no longer be a\ncurse and a burden to themselves and to those who bring them into\nthe world or to society at large.\n\nThese thoughts are not the mere dreams of a visionary. When we see\nthe wonderful changes wrought in a human being by a few months or\nyears of rational living and treatment, it seems not impossible or\nimprobable that these ideals may be realized within a few\ngenerations.\n\nChildren thus born and reared in harmony with the law will be the\nfuture masters of the earth. They will need neither gold nor\ninfluence to win in the race of life--their innate powers of body and\nsoul will make them victors over every circumstance. The offspring\nof alcoholism, drug poisoning and sexual perversity will cut but\nsorry figures in comparison with the manhood and womanhood of a true\nand noble aristocracy of health.\n\n\n\nChapter II\n\n\nCatechism of Nature Cure\n\n\nThe philosophy of Nature Cure is based on sciences dealing with\nnewly discovered or rediscovered natural laws and principles, and\nwith their application to the phenomena of life and death, health,\ndisease and cure.\n\nEvery new science embodying new modes of thought requires exact\nmodes of expression and new definitions of already well-known words\nand phrases.\n\nTherefore, we have endeavored to define, as precisely as possible,\ncertain words and phrases which convey meanings and ideas peculiar\nto the teachings of Nature Cure.\n\nThe student of Nature Cure and kindred subjects will do well to\nstudy these definitions and formulated principles closely, as they\ncontain the pith and marrow of our philosophy and greatly facilitate\nits understanding.\n\n(1) What Is Nature Cure?\n\nNature Cure is a system of building the entire being in harmony with\nthe constructive principle in Nature on the physical, mental, moral\nand spiritual planes of being.\n\n(2) What Is the Constructive Principle in Nature?\n\nThe constructive principle in Nature is that principle which builds\nup, improves and repairs, which always makes for the perfect type,\nwhose activity in Nature is designated as evolutionary and\nconstructive and which is opposed to the destructive principle in\nNature\n\n(3) What Is the Destructive Principle in Nature?\n\nThe destructive principle in Nature is that principle which\ndisintegrates and destroys existing forms and types, and whose\nactivity in Nature is designated as devolutionary and destructive.\n\n(4) What Is Normal or Natural?\n\nThat is normal or natural which is in harmonic relation with the\nlife purposes of the individual and the constructive principle in\nNature.\n\n(5) What Is Health?\n\nHealth is normal and harmonious vibration of the elements and forces\ncomposing the human entity on the physical, mental, moral and\nspiritual planes of being, in conformity with the constructive\nprinciple of Nature applied to individual life.\n\n(6) What Is Disease?\n\nDisease is abnormal or inharmonious vibration of the elements and\nforces composing the human entity on one or more planes of being, in\nconformity with the destructive principle of Nature applied to\nindividual life.\n\n(7) What Is the Primary Cause of Disease?\n\nThe primary cause of disease, barring accidental or surgical injury\nto the human organism and surroundings hostile to human life, is\nviolation of Nature's Laws.\n\n(8) What Is the Effect of Violation of Nature's Laws on the Physical\nHuman Organism?\n\nThe effect of violation of Nature's Laws on the physical human\norganism are:\n\nLowered vitality. Abnormal composition of blood and lymph.\nAccumulation of waste matter, morbid materials and poisons.\n\nThese conditions are identical with disease, because they tend to\nlower, hinder or inhibit normal function (harmonious vibration) and\nbecause they engender and promote destruction of living tissues.\n\n(9) What Is Acute Disease?\n\nWhat is commonly called acute disease is in reality the result of\nNature's efforts to eliminate from the organism waste matter,\nforeign matter and poisons, and to repair injury to living tissues.\nIn other words, every so-called acute disease is the result of a\ncleansing and healing effort of Nature. The real disease is lowered\nvitality, abnormal composition of the vital fluids (blood and lymph)\nand the resulting accumulation of waste materials and poisons.\n\n(10) What Is Chronic Disease?\n\nChronic disease is a condition of the organism in which lowered\nvibration (lowered vitality), due to the accumulation of waste\nmatter and poisons, with the consequent destruction of vital parts\nand organs, has progressed to such an extent that Nature's\nconstructive and healing forces are no longer able to react against\nthe disease conditions by acute corrective efforts (healing crises).\nChronic disease is a condition of the organismin which the morbid\nencumbrances have gained the ascendancy and prevent acute reaction\n(healing crises) on the part of the constructive forces of Nature.\nChronic disease is the inability of the organism to react by acute\nefforts or healing crises against constitutional disease conditions.\n\n(11) What Is a Healing Crisis?\n\nA healing crisis is an acute reaction, resulting from the ascendancy\nof Nature's healing forces over disease conditions. Its tendency is\ntoward recovery, and it is, therefore, in conformity with Nature's\nconstructive principle.\n\n(12) Are All Acute Reactions Healing Crises?\n\nNo, there are healing crises and disease crises.\n\n(13) What Is a Disease Crisis?\n\nA disease crisis is an acute reaction resulting from the ascendancy\nof disease conditions over the healing forces of the organism. Its\ntendency is toward fatal termination, and it is, therefore, in\nconformity with Nature's destructive principle\n\n(14) What Is Cure?\n\nCure is the readjustment of the human organism from abnormal to\nnormal conditions and functions.\n\n(15) What Methods of Cure Are in Conformity with the Constructive\nPrinciple in Nature?\n\nThose methods which:\n\nEstablish normal surroundings and natural habits of life in accord\nwith Nature's Laws. Economize vital force. Build up the blood on a\nnatural basis, that is, supply the blood with its natural\nconstituents in right proportions. Promote the elimination of waste\nmatter and poisons without in any way injuring the human body.\nArouse the individual in the highest possible degree to the\nconsciousness of personal accountability and the necessity of\nintelligent personal effort and self-help.\n\n(16) Are Medicines in Conformity with the Constructive Principle in\nNature?\n\nMedicines are in conformity with the constructive principle in\nNature insofar as they, in themselves, are not injurious and\ndestructive to the human organism and insofar as they act as tissue\nfoods and promote the neutralization and elimination of morbid\nmatter and poisons.\n\n(17) Are Poisonous Drugs and Promiscuous Surgical Operations in\nConformity with the Constructive Principle in Nature?\n\nPoisonous drugs and promiscuous operations are not usually in\nconformity with the constructive principle in Nature, because:\n\nThey suppress acute diseases or reactions (crises), the cleaning and\nhealing efforts of Nature. They are in themselves harmful and\ndestructive to human life. Such treatment fosters the belief that\ndrugs and surgical operations can be substituted for obedience to\nNature's Laws and for personal effort and self-help.\n\n(18) Is Metaphysical Healing in Conformity with the Constructive\nPrinciple in Nature?\n\nMetaphysical systems of healing are in conformity with the\nconstructive principle in Nature insofar as:\n\nThey do not interfere with or suppress Nature's healing efforts.\nThey awaken hope and confidence (therapeutic faith) and increase the\ninflow of vital force into the organism.\n\nThey are not in conformity with the constructive principle in Nature\nin so far as:\n\nThey fail to assist Nature's healing efforts. They ignore, obscure\nand deny the laws of Nature and defy the dictates of reason and\ncommon sense. They substitute, in the treatment of disease, a blind,\ndogmatic belief in the wonder-working power of metaphysical formulas\nand prayer for intelligent cooperation with Nature's constructive\nforces for personal effort and self-help. They weaken the\nconsciousness of personal responsibility.\n\n(19) Is Nature Cure in Conformity with the Constructive Principle in\nNature?\n\nNature Cure is in conformity with the constructive principle in\nNature because:\n\nIt teaches that the primary cause of weakness and disease is\ndisobedience to the laws of Nature. It arouses the individual to the\nstudy of natural laws and demonstrates the necessity of strict\ncompliance with these laws. It strengthens the consciousness of\npersonal responsibility of the individual for his own status of\nhealth and for the hereditary conditions, traits and tendencies of\nhis off-spring. It encourages personal effort and self-help. It\nadapts surroundings and habits of life to natural laws. It assists\nNature's cleansing and healing efforts by simple natural means and\nmethods of treatment which are in no wise harmful or destructive to\nhealth and life, and which are within the reach of everyone.\n\n(20) What Are the Natural Methods of Living and of Treatment?\n\nReturn to Nature by the regulation of eating, drinking, breathing,\nbathing, dressing, working, resting, thinking, the moral life,\nsexual and social activities, etc., on a normal and natural basis.\nElementary remedies, such as water, air, light, earth cures,\nmagnetism, electricity, etc. Chemical remedies, such as scientific\nfood selection and combination, specific nutritional augmentation\nwith natural food concentrates, homeopathic medicines, simple herb\nextracts and the vitochemical remedies. Mechanical remedies, such as\ncorrective gymnastics, massage, magnetic treatment, chiropractic or\nosteopathic manipulation and, when indicated, surgery. Mental and\nspiritual remedies, such as scientific relaxation, normal\nsuggestion, constructive thought, the prayer of faith, etc.\n\n\n\nChapter III\n\n\nWhat Is Life?\n\n\nIn our study of the cause and character of disease we must endeavor\nto begin at the beginning, and that is with LIFE itself, for the\nprocesses of health, disease and cure are manifestations of that\nwhich we call life, vitality, life elements, etc.\n\nWhile endeavoring to fathom the mystery of life we soon realize,\nhowever, that we are dealing with an ultimate which no human mind is\ncapable of solving or explaining. We can study and understand life\nonly in its manifestations, not in its origin and real essence.\n\nThere are two prevalent, but widely differing, conceptions of the\nnature of life or vital force: the material and the vital.\n\nThe former looks upon life or vital force with all its physical,\nmental and psychical phenomena as manifestations of the electric,\nmagnetic and chemical activities of the physical-material elements\ncomposing the human organism. From this viewpoint, life is a sort of\nspontaneous combustion, or, as one scientist expressed it, a\nsuccession of fermentations.\n\nThis materialistic conception of life, however, has already become\nobsolete among the more advanced biologists as a result of the\nwonderful discoveries of modern science, which are fast bridging the\nchasm between the material and the spiritual realms of being.\n\nBut medical science, as taught in the regular schools, is still\ndominated by the old, crude, mechanical conception of vital force\nand this, as we shall see, accounts for some of its gravest errors\nof theory and of practice.\n\nThe vital conception of life, on the other hand, regards it as the\nprimary force of all forces, coming from the great central source of\nall power.\n\nThis force, which permeates, heats and animates the entire created\nuniverse, is the expression of the divine will, the \"logos,\" the\n\"word\" of the great creative intelligence. It is this divine energy\nwhich sets in motion the whirls in the ether, the electric\ncorpuscles and ions that make up the different atoms and elements of\nmatter.\n\nThese corpuscles and ions are positive and negative forms of\nelectricity. Electricity is a form of energy. It is intelligent\nenergy; otherwise it could not move with that same wonderful\nprecision in the electrons of the atoms as in the suns and planets\nof the sidereal universe.\n\nThis intelligent energy can have but one source: the will and the\nintelligence of the Creator; as Swedenborg expresses it, \"the great\ncentral sun of the universe.\"\n\nIf this supreme intelligence should withdraw its energy, the\nelectrical charges (forms of energy) and with it the atoms,\nelements, and the entire material universe would disappear in the\nflash of a moment.\n\nFrom this it appears that crude matter, instead of being the source\nof life and of all its complicated mental and spiritual phenomena\n(which assumption, on the face of it, is absurd), is only an\nexpression of the Life Force, itself a manifestation of the great\ncreative intelligence which some call God, others Nature, the\nOversoul, Brahma, Prana, etc., each one according to his best\nunderstanding.\n\nIt is this supreme power and intelligence, acting in and through\nevery atom, molecule and cell in the human body, which is the true\nhealer, the vis medicatrix nature, which always endeavors to\nrepair, to heal and to restore the perfect type. All that the\nphysician can do is to remove obstructions and to establish normal\nconditions within and around the patient, so that the healer within\ncan do his work to the best advantage.\n\nHere the Christian Scientist will say: \"That is exactly what we\nclaim. All is God, all is mind! There is no matter! Our attitude\ntoward disease is based on these facts.\"\n\nWell, what of it, Brother Scientist? Suppose, in the final analysis,\nmatter is nothing but vibration, an expression of Divine Mind and\nWill. That, for all practical purposes, does not justify me to deny\nand to ignore its reality. Because I have an \"all-mind\" body, is it\nadvisable for me to place myself in the way of an \"all-mind\"\nlocomotive moving at the rate of sixty miles an hour?\n\nThe question is not what matter is in the final analysis, but how\nmatter affects us. We have to take it and treat it as we find it. We\nmust be as obedient to the laws of matter as to those of the higher\nplanes of being.\n\nLife Is Vibratory\n\nIn the final analysis, all things in Nature, from a fleeti g thought\nor emotion to the hardest piece of diamond or platinum, are modes of\nmotion or vibration. A few years ago physical science assumed that\nan atom was the smallest imaginable part of a given element of\nmatter; that although infinitesimally small, it still represented\nsolid matter. Now, in the light of better evidence, we have good\nreason to believe that there is no such thing as solid matter: that\nevery atom is made up of charges of negative and positive\nelectricity acting in and upon an omnipresent ether; that the\ndifference between an atom of iron and of hydrogen or any other\nelement consists solely in the number of electrical charges or\ncorpuscles it contains, and on the velocity with which these vibrate\naround one another.\n\nThus the atom, which was thought to be the ultimate particle of\nsolid matter, is found to be a little universe in itself in which\ncorpuscles of electricity rotate or vibrate around one another like\nthe suns and planets in the sidereal universe. This explains what we\nmean when we say life and matter are vibratory.\n\nAs early as 1863 John Newlands discovered that when he arranged the\nelements of matter in the order of their atomic weight, they\ndisplayed the same relationship to one another as do the tones in\nthe musical scale. Thus modern chemistry demonstrates the verity of\nthe music of the spheres--another visionary concept of ancient\nmysticism. The individual atoms in themselves, as well as all the\natoms of matter in their relationship to one another, are\nconstructed and arranged in exact correspondence with the laws of\nharmony. Therefore the entire sidereal universe is built on the laws\nof music.\n\nThat which is orderly, lawful, good, beautiful, natural, healthy,\nvibrates in unison with the harmonics of this great \"Diapason of\nNature\"; in other words, it is in alignment with the constructive\nprinciple in Nature.\n\nThat which is disorderly, abnormal, ugly, unnatural, unhealthy,\nvibrates in discord with Nature's harmonics. It is in alignment with\nthe destructive principle in Nature.\n\nWhat we call \"Inanimate Nature\" is beautiful and orderly because it\nplays in tune with the score of the Symphony of Life. Man alone can\nplay out of tune. This is his privilege, if he so chooses, by virtue\nof his freedom of choice and action.\n\nWe can now better understand the definitions of health and of\ndisease, given in Chapter Two, \"Catechism of Nature Cure\" as\nfollows:\n\n\"Health is normal and harmonious vibration of the elements and\nforces composing the human entity on the physical, mental, moral and\nspiritual planes of being, in conformity with the constructive\nprinciple of Nature applied to individual life.\"\n\n\"Disease is abnormal or inharmonious vibration of the elements and\nforces composing the human entity on one or more planes of being, in\nconformity with the destructive principle of Nature applied to\nindividual life.\"\n\nThe question naturally arising here is, \"Normal or abnormal\nvibration with what?\" The answer is that the vibratory conditions of\nthe organism must be in harmony with Nature's established harmonic\nrelations in the physical, mental, moral, spiritual and psychical\nrealms of human life and action.\n\nWhat Is an Established Harmonic Relation?\n\nLet us see whether we cannot make this clear by a simile. If a watch\nis in good condition, in harmonious vibration, its movement is so\nadjusted that it coincides exactly, in point of time, with the\nrotations of our earth around its axis. The established, regular\nmovement of the earth forms the basis of the established harmonic\nrelationship between the vibrations of a normal, healthy timepiece\nand the revolutions of our planet. The watch has to vibrate in\nunison with the harmonics of the planetary universe in order to be\nnormal, or in harmony.\n\nIn like manner, everything that is normal, natural, healthy, good,\nbeautiful must vibrate in unison with its correlated harmonics in\nNature.\n\nObedience the Only Salvation\n\nOrthodox medical science attributes disease largely to accidental\ncauses: to chance infection by disease taints, germs or parasites;\nto drafts, chills, wet feet, etc.\n\nThe religiously inclined frequently attribute disease and other\ntribulations to the arbitrary rulings of an inscrutable Providence.\n\nChristian Scientists tell us that sin, suffering, disease and all\nother kinds of evil are only errors of mortal mind, or the products\nof diseased imagination (though this in itself admits the existence\nof something abnormal or diseased).\n\nNature Cure philosophy presents a rational concept of evil, its\ncause and purpose, namely: that it is brought on by violation of\nNature's Laws; that it is corrective in its purpose; that it can be\novercome only by compliance with the law. There is no suffering,\ndisease or evil of any kind anywhere unless the law has been\ntransgressed somewhere by someone.\n\nThese transgressions of the law may be due to ignorance, to\nindifference or to wilfulness and viciousness. The effects will\nalways be commensurate with the causes.\n\nThe science of natural living and healing shows clearly that what we\ncall disease is primarily Nature's effort to eliminate morbid matter\nand to restore the normal functions of the body; that the processes\nof disease are just as orderly in their way as everything else in\nNature; that we must not check or suppress them, but cooperate with\nthem. Thus we learn, slowly and laboriously, the all-important\nlesson that \"obedience to the law\" is the only means of prevention\nof disease, and the only cure.\n\nThe Fundamental Law of Cure, the Law of Action and Reaction, and the\nLaw of Crises, as revealed by the Nature Cure philosophy, impress\nupon us the truth that there is nothing accidental or arbitrary in\nthe processes of health, disease and cure; that every changing\ncondition is either in harmony or in discord with the laws of our\nbeing; that only by complete surrender and obedience to the law can\nwe attain and maintain perfect physical health.\n\nSelf-Control, the Master's Key\n\nThus Nature Cure brings home to us constantly and forcibly the\ninexorable facts of natural law and the necessity of compliance with\nthe law. Herein lies its great educational value to the individual\nand to the race. The man who has learned to master his habits and\nhis appetites so as to conform to Nature's Laws on the physical\nplane, and who has thereby regained his bodily health, realizes that\npersonal effort and self-control are the Master's Key to all further\ndevelopment on the mental and spiritual planes of being as well;\nthat self-mastery and unremitting and unselfish personal effort are\nthe only means of self-completion, of individual and social\nsalvation.\n\nThe naturist who has regained health and strength through obedience\nto the laws of his being, enjoys a measure of self-content, gladness\nof soul and enthusiasm which cannot be explained by the mere\npossession of physical health. These highest and purest attainments\nof the human soul are not the results of mere physical well-being,\nbut of the peace and harmony which come only from obedience to the\nlaw. Such is the peace which passeth understanding.\n\n\n\nChapter IV\n\n\nThe Unity of Disease and Treatment\n\n\nThere exists a close resemblance between the mechanism and the\nfunctions of a watch and of the human body. Their well-being is\nsubject to similar underlying laws and principles. Both a watch and\na human body may function abnormally as a result of accidental\ninjury or unfavorable external conditions, such as extreme heat or\ncold, etc. However, in our present study of the causes of disease we\nshall not consider accidental injury and hostile environment, but\nconfine ourselves to causes arising within the organism itself.\n\nThe watch may cease to vibrate in accord with the harmonics of our\nplanetary universe for several reasons. It may lose time or stand\nstill because (1) the wound spring has spent its force, or (2) its\nparts are not made up of the right constituents, or (3) foreign\nmatter clogs or corrodes its mechanism.\n\nSimilarly, there exist three primary causes of disease and of\npremature death of the physical body. These are:\n\nLowered vitality. Abnormal composition of blood and lymph.\nAccumulation of morbid matter and poisons.\n\nIn the ultimate, disease and everything else that we designate as\nevil are the result of transgressions of natural laws in thinking,\nbreathing, eating, dressing, working, resting, as well as in moral,\nsexual and social conduct.\n\nIn Tables I and II, I have endeavored to present in concise and\ncomprehensive form the primary and the secondary causes or\nmanifestations of disease and the corresponding natural methods of\ntreatment.\n\nTABLE I\n\n~THE UNITY OF DISEASE AND TREATMENT~\n\nBarring trauma (injury), advancing age and surroundings uncongenial\nto human life, all causes of disease may be classified as given\nbelow.\n\nViolations of Nature's Laws in thinking, breathing, eating,\ndrinking, dressing, working, resting and in moral, sexual and social\nconduct result in the following:\n\nPrimary and Secondary Causes of Disease\n\nPrimary Causes\n\nLowered vitality due to overwork, nightwork, excesses,\noverstimulation, poisonous drugs and ill-advised surgical\noperations. Abnormal composition of blood and lymph due to the\nimproper selection and combination of food, and especially the lack\nof organic mineral salts and other essential nutritional elements.\nAccumulation of waste matter, morbid matter and poisons due to the\nfirst two causes, as well as to faulty diet, overeating, the use of\nalcoholic and narcotic stimulants, drugs [both street and\nprescription], vaccines, accidental poisoning and, last but not\nleast, to the suppression of acute diseases (Nature's cleansing and\nhealing efforts) by poisonous drugs and surgical operations.\n\nSecondary Causes\n\nHereditary and constitutional taints of sycosis, scrofula, psora,\nsyphilis; mercurianism, cinchonism, iodism and many other forms of\nchronic poisoning. Fevers, inflammations, skin eruptions, chronic\nsinus discharges, ulcers, abscesses, germs, bacteria, parasites,\netc. Mechanical subluxations, distortions and displacements of bony\nstructures, muscles and ligaments; weakening and loss of reason,\nwill, and self-control resulting in negative, sensitive and\nsubjective conditions which open the way to nervous prostration,\ncontrol by other personalities (hypnotic influence, obsession,\npossession); the different forms of insanity, epilepsy, petit mal,\netc.\n\nTable II\n\n~THE UNITY OF DISEASE AND TREATMENT~\n\nIn correspondence with the three primary causes of disease, Nature\nCure recognizes the following:\n\nNatural Methods of Treatment\n\n1. Return to Nature, or the establishment of normal habits and\nsurroundings, which necessitates:\n\nExtension of consciousness by popular general and individual\neducation. The constant exercise of reason, will and self-control. A\nreturn to natural habits of life in thinking, breathing, eating,\ndressing, working, resting and in moral, sexual and social conduct.\nCorrection of mechanical defects and injuries by means of massage,\nchiropractic or osteopathy, surgery and other mechanical methods of\ntreatment.\n\n2. Economy of Vital Force, which necessitates:\n\nPrevention of waste of vital force by the stoppage of all leaks.\nScientific relaxation, proper rest and sleep. Proper food selection,\nmagnetic treatment, etc. The right mental attitude.\n\n3. Elimination, which necessitates:\n\nScientific selection and combination of food and drink. Judicious\nfasting. Hydrotherapy (water cure). Light and air baths, friction.\nChiropratic or osteopathy, massage, and other manipulative\ntreatment. Correct breathing, curative gymnastics. Such medicinal\nremedies as will build up the blood on a normal basis and supply the\nsystem with the all-important mineral salts in organic form.\n\nIn the following chapters I shall endeavor to show that all the\ndifferent forms, phases and phenomena of disease arising within the\nhuman organism, provided they are not caused by accident or external\nconditions unfavorable to the existence of human life, can be\nattributed to one or more of three primary causes (as outlined in\nTables I and II). When we succeed in proving that all disease\noriginates from a few simple causes, it will not seem so strange and\nimprobable that all disease can be cured by a few simple, natural\nmethods of living and of treatment. If Nature Cure can accomplish\nthis, it establishes its right to be classed with the exact\nsciences.\n\nThe Three Primary Causes of Disease\n\nWe shall now consider the three primary causes of disease one by\none.\n\nLowered Vitality\n\nThere is a well-defined limit to the running of a watch. When the\nwound spring has spent its force, the mechanism stops.\n\nSo also the living forms of vegetable, animal and human life seem to\nbe wound by Nature to run a certain length of time, in accordance\nwith the laws governing their growth and development. Even the\nhealthiest of animals living in the most congenial surroundings in\nthe freedom of Nature do not much exceed their allotted span of\nlife, nor do they fall much below it. As a rule, the longer the\nperiod between birth and maturity, the longer the life of the\nanimal.\n\nAll the different families of mammalia, when living in freedom, live\nclosely up to the life period allotted to them by Nature. Man is the\nonly exception. It is claimed that according to the laws of\nlongevity his average length of life should be considerably over one\nhundred years, while according to life insurance statistics, the\naverage is at present [1913] thirty-seven years. This shows an\nimmense discrepancy between the possible and the actual longevity of\nman.\n\nEven this brief span of life means little else than weakness,\nphysical and mental suffering and degeneracy for the majority of\nmankind. Visiting physicians of the public schools in our large\ncities report that seventy-five percent of all school children show\ndefective health in some way. Diagnosis from the Eye proves that the\nremaining twenty-five percent are also more or less affected by\nhereditary and acquired disease conditions. Christian Science says,\n\"There is no disease.\" Nature's records in the iris of the eye say\nthere is no perfect health.\n\nThese established facts of greatly impaired longevity and universal\nabnormality of the human race would of themselves indicate that\nthere is something radically wrong somewhere in the life habits of\nman, and that there is ample reason for the great health-reform\nmovement which was started about the middle of the last century by\nthe pioneers of Nature Cure in Germany, and which has since swept,\nunder many different forms and guises, all portions of the civilized\nworld.\n\nWhen people in general grow better acquainted with the laws\nunderlying prenatal and postnatal child culture, natural living and\nthe natural treatment of diseases, human beings will approach much\nmore closely the normal in health, strength, beauty and longevity.\nThen will arise a true aristocracy, not of morbid, venous blue\nblood, but pulsating with the rich red blood of health.\n\nHowever, to reach this ideal of perfect physical, mental and moral\nhealth, succeeding generations will have to adhere to the natural\nways of living and of treating their ailments. It cannot be attained\nby the present generation. The enthusiasts who claim that they can,\nby their particular methods, achieve perfect health and live the\nfull term of human life, are destined to disappointment. We are so\nhandicapped by the mistakes of the past that the best which most of\nus adults can do is to patch up, to attain a reasonable measure of\nhealth and to approach somewhat nearer Nature's full allotment of\nlife.\n\nWild animals living in freedom retain their full vigor unimpaired\nalmost to the end of life. Hunters report that among the great herds\nof buffalo, elk and deer, the oldest bucks are the rulers and\nmaintain their sovereignty over the younger males of the herd solely\nby reason of their superior strength and prowess. Premature old age,\namong human beings, as indicated by the early decay of physical and\nmental powers, is brought on solely by their violation of Nature's\nLaws in almost all the ordinary habits of life.\n\nHealth Positive--Disease Negative\n\nThe freer the inflow of life force into the organism, the greater\nthe vitality, the more there is of strength, of positive resisting\nand recuperating power.\n\nIn the book~ Harmonics of Evolution~ we are told that at the very\nfoundation of the manifestation of life lies the principle of\npolarity, which expresses itself in the duality and unity of\npositive and negative affinity. The swaying to and fro of the\npositive and the negative, the desire to balance incomplete\npolarity, constitutes the very ebb and flow of life.\n\nDisease is disturbed polarity. Exaggerated positive or negative\nconditions, whether physical, mental, moral or spiritual, tend to\ndisease on the respective planes of being. Foods, medicines,\nsuggestion and all the other different methods of therapeutic\ntreatment exert on the individual subjected to them either a\npositive or a negative influence. It is, therefore, of the greatest\nimportance that the physician and every one who wishes to live and\nwork in harmony with Nature's Laws should understand this\nall-important question of magnetic polarity.\n\nLowered vitality means lowered, slower and coarser vibration, and\nthis results in lowered resistance to the accumulation of morbid\nmatter, poisons, disease taints, germs and parasites. This is what\nwe designate ordinarily as the negative condition.\n\nLet us see whether we can explain this more fully by a homely but\npractical illustration: A great many of my readers have probably\nseen in operation in the summer amusement parks the \"human\nroulette.\" This contrivance consists of a large wheel,\nboard-covered, somewhat raised in the center, and sloping towards\nthe circumference. The wheel rotates horizontally, evenly with the\nfloor or ground. The merrymakers pay their nickels for the privilege\nof throwing themselves flat down on the wheel and attempting to\ncling to it while it rotates with increasing swiftness. While the\nwheel moves slowly, it is easy enough to cling to it; but the faster\nit revolves, the more strongly the centrifugal force tends to throw\noff the human flies who try to stick to it.\n\nThe increasing repelling power of the accelerated motion of the\nwheel may serve as an illustration of that which we call vigorous\nvibration, good vitality, natural immunity or recuperative power.\nThis is the positive condition.\n\nThe more intense the action of the life force, the more rapid and\nvigorous are the vibratory activities of the atoms and molecules in\nthe cells, and of the cells in the organs and tissues of the body.\nThe more rapid and vigorous this vibratory activity, the more\npowerful is the repulsion and expulsion of morbid matter, poisons\nand germs of disease which try to encumber or destroy the organism.\n\nHealth and Disease Resident in the Cell\n\nWe must not forget that health or disease, in the final analysis, is\nresident in the cell. Though a minute, microscopic organism, the\ncell is an independent living being, which is born, grows, eats,\ndrinks, throws off waste matter, multiplies, ages and dies, just\nlike man, the large cell. If the individual cell is well, man, the\ncomplex cell, is well also, and vice versa. From this it is apparent\nthat in all our considerations of the processes of health, disease\nand cure, we have to deal primarily with the individual cell.\n\nThe vibratory activity of the cell may be lowered through the\ndecline of vitality brought about in a natural way by advancing age,\nor in an artificial way through wrong habits of living, wrong\nthinking and feeling, overwork, unnatural stimulation and excesses\nof various kinds.\n\nOn the other hand, the inflow of vital force into the cells may be\nobstructed and their vibratory activity lowered by the accumulation\nof waste and morbid matter in the tissues, blood vessels and nerve\nchannels of the body. Such clogging will interfere with the inflow\nof life force and with the free and harmonious vibration of the\ncells and organs of the body as surely as dust in a watch will\ninterfere with the normal action and vibration of its wheels and\nbalances.\n\nFrom this it is evident that negative conditions may be brought\nabout not only by hyperrefinement of the physical organism, but also\nby clogging it with waste and morbid matter which interfere with the\ninflow and distribution of the vital force. It also becomes apparent\nthat in such cases the Nature Cure methods of eliminative treatment,\nsuch as pure food diet, hydrotherapy, massage, chiropractic,\nosteopathy, etc., are valuable means of removing these obstructions\nand promoting the inflow and free circulation of the positive\nelectric and magnetic life currents\n\nAbnormal Composition of Blood and Lymph\n\nAs one of the primary causes of disease, we cited abnormal\ncomposition of blood and lymph. The human organism is made up of a\ncertain number of elements in well-defined proportions. Chem-istry\nhas discovered, so far, about seventeen of these elements in\nappreciable quantities and has ascertained their functions in the\neconomy of the body. These seventeen elements must be present in the\nright proportions in order to insure normal texture, structure and\nfunctioning of the component parts and organs of the body.\n\nThe cells and organs receive their nourishment from the blood and\nlymph currents. Therefore, these must contain all the elements\nneeded by the organism in the right proportions, and this, of\ncourse, depends upon the character and the combination of the food\nsupply.\n\nEvery disease arising in the human organism from internal causes is\naccompanied by a deficiency in blood and tissues of certain\nimportant mineral elements [organic salts]. Undoubtedly, the\nmajority of these diseases are caused by an unbalanced diet, or by\nfood and drink poisoning. Wrong food combinations, on the one hand,\ncreate an overabundance of waste and morbid matter in the system\nand, on the other hand, fail to supply the positive mineral elements\nor organic salts on which depends the elimination of waste and\nsystemic poisons from the body.\n\nThe great problem of natural dietetics and of natural medical\ntreatment is, therefore, how to restore and maintain the positivity\nof the blood and of the organism as a whole through providing in\nfood, drink and medicine an abundant supply of the positive mineral\nsalts in organic form.\n\nAccumulation of Morbid Matter and Poisons\n\nThis is the third of the primary causes of disease. We have learned\nhow lowered vitality and the abnormal composition of thevital fluids\nfavor the retention of systemic poisons in the body. If, in addition\nto this, food and drink contain too much of the waste-producing\ncarbohydrates, hydrocarbons and proteins, and not enough of the\neliminating positive mineral salts then waste and morbid materials\nare bound to accumulate in the system and this results in the\nclogging of the tissues with acid precipitates and earthy deposits.\n\nSuch accumulation of waste and morbid matter in blood and tissues\ncreates the great majority of all diseases arising within the human\norganism. This will be explained fully in the following chapters\nwhich deal with the causation of acute and chronic disease.\n\nMore harmful and dangerous, and more difficult to eliminate than the\ndifferent kinds of systemic poisons, that is, those which have\noriginated within the body, are the drug poisons, especially when\nthey are administered in the inorganic mineral form. Health is\ndependent upon an abundant supply of life force, upon the\nunobstructed, normal circulation of the vital fluids and upon\nperfect oxygenation and combustion. Anything that interferes with\nthese essentials causes disease; anything that promotes them\nestablishes health. Nothing so interferes with the inflow of the\nlife force, with free and normal circulation of blood and lymph and\nwith the oxygenation and combustion of food materials and systemic\nwaste as the accumulation of morbid matter and poisons in the\ntissues of the body.\n\nThis I have endeavored to explain more fully in connection with\nlowered vitality. Let us now see how disease and health are affected\nby mental and emotional conditions.\n\nMental and Emotional Influences\n\nOur mental and emotional conditions exert a most powerful influence\nupon the inflow and distribution of vital force. The author of The\nGreat Work [~The Great Work: The Constructive Principle of Nature in\nIndividual Life, ~by John Emmett Richardson {1853-1935},\nIndio-American Book Company, Chicago, IL. 1907.] has described most\ngraphically in the chapter on Self-Control how fear, worry, anxiety\nand all kindred emotions create in the system conditions similar to\nthose of freezing; how these destructive vibrations congeal the\ntissues, clog the channels of life and paralyze the vital functions.\nHe shows how the emotional conditions of impatience, irritability,\nanger, etc., have a heating, corroding effect upon the tissues of\nthe body.\n\nIn like manner, all other destructive emotional vibrations ob-struct\nthe inflow and normal distribution of the life forces in and through\nthe organism, while on the other hand the constructive emotions of\nfaith, hope, cheerfulness, happiness and love exert a relaxing,\nharmonizing influence upon the tissues, blood vessels and nerve\nchannels of the body, thus opening wide the floodgates of the life\nforces, and raising the discords of weakness, disease and discontent\nto the harmonics of buoyant health and happiness.\n\nLet us see just how mind controls matter and how it affects the\nchanging conditions of the physical body. Life manifests through\nvibration. It acts on the mass by acting through its minutest\npar-ticles. Changes in the physical body are wrought by vibratory\nchanges in atoms, molecules and cells. Health is satisfied polarity,\nthat is, the balancing of the positive and negative elements in\nharmonious vibration. Anything that interferes with the free,\nvigor-ous and harmonious vibration of the minute parts and particles\ncomposing the human organism tends to disturb polarity and natural\naffinity, thus causing discord or disease.\n\nWhen we fully realize these facts we shall not stand so much in awe\nof our physical bodies. In the past we have been thinking of the\nbody as a solid and imponderable mass difficult to control and to\nchange. This conception left us in a condition of utter helplessness\nand hopelessness in the presence of weakness and disease.\n\nWe now think of the body as composed of minute corpuscles rotating\naround one another within the atom at relatively immense distances.\nWe know that in similar manner the atoms vibrate in the molecule,\nthe molecules in the cell, the cells in the organ and the organs in\nthe body; the whole capable of being changed by a change in the\nvibrations of its particles.\n\nThus the erstwhile solid physical mass appears plastic and fluidic,\nreadily swayed and changed by the vibratory harmonies or discords of\nthoughts and emotions as well as by foods, medicines and therapeutic\ntreatment.\n\nUnder the old conception the mind fell readily under the control of\nthe body and became the abject slave of its physical conditions,\nswayed by fear and apprehension under every sensation of physical\nweakness, discomfort or pain. The servants lorded it with a high\nhand over the master of the house, and the result was chaos. Under\nthe new conception, control is placed where it belongs. It is\nassumed by the real master of the house, the Soul-Man, and the\nservants, the physical members of the body, remain obedient to his\nbidding.\n\nThis is the new man, the ideal progeny of a new and higher\nphilosophy. Understanding the structure of the body, the laws of its\nbeing and the operation of the life elements within it, the superman\nretains perfect poise and confidence under the most trying\ncircumstances. Animated by an abounding faith in the supremacy of\nthe healing forces within him and sustained by the power of his\nsovereign will, he governs his body as perfectly as the artist\ncontrols his violin and attunes its vibrations to Nature's harmonies\nof health and happiness.\n\n\n\nChapter V\n\n\nThe Unity of Acute Diseases\n\n\nIn the last chapter I endeavored to explain the three primary causes\nof disease, namely: (1) Lowered Vitality, (2) Abnormal Composition\nof Blood and Lymph, (3) Accumulation of Waste, Morbid Matter, and\nPoisons in the System.\n\nWe shall now consider some of the secondary manifestations resulting\nfrom these primary causes. Consulting the table on page 18 (Chapter\n2, internet version), we find mentioned as the first one of the\nsecondary causes or manifestations of disease, \"Hereditary and\nConstitutional Taints.\"\n\nOn first impression, it might be thought that heredity is a primary\ncause of disease; but on further consideration it becomes apparent\nthat it is an effect and not a primary cause. If the parents possess\ngood vitality and pure, normal blood and tissues, and if they apply\nin the prenatal and postnatal treatment of the child the necessary\ninsight and foresight, there cannot be disease heredity. In order to\ncreate abnormal hereditary tendencies, the parents, or earlier\nancestors, must have ignorantly or wantonly violated Nature's Laws,\nsuch violation resulting in lowered vitality and in deterioration of\nblood and tissues.\n\nThe female and male germinal cells unite and form the primitive\nreproductive cell--the prototype of marriage. The human body with\nits millions of cells and cell colonies is developed by the\nmultiplication, with gradual differentiation, of the reproductive\ncell. Its abnormalities of structure, of cell materials and of\nfunctional tendencies are reproduced just as surely as its normal\nconstituents. Herein lies the simple explanation of heredity which\nis proved to be an actual fact, not only by common experience and\nscientific observation but also in a more definite way by Nature's\nrecords in the iris of the eye.\n\nThe iris of the newborn child reveals in its diagnostic details not\nonly, in a general way, hereditary taints, lowered resistance, and\ndeterioration of vital fluids, but frequently special weakness and\ndeterioration in those organs which were weak or diseased in the\nparents. Under the conventional (unnatural) management of the\ninfant, these hereditary tendencies to weakness and disease and\ntheir corresponding signs in the iris become more and more\npronounced, proceeding through the various stages of incumbrance\nfrom acute, infantile diseases through chronic catarrhal conditions\nto the final destructive stages.\n\nIn the face of the well-established facts of disease heredity we\nhave, however, this consolation: If the child be treated in\naccordance with the teachings of Nature Cure philosophy, the\nabnormal hereditary encumbrances and tendencies can be overcome and\neliminated within a few years. If we place the infant organism under\nthe right conditions of living and of treatment, in harmony with the\nlaws of its being, the Life Principle within will approach ever\nnearer to the establishment of the perfect type. Hundreds of \"Nature\nCure\" babies all over this country are living proofs of this\ngladsome message to all those who have assumed or intend to assume\nthe responsibilities of parenthood.\n\nNatural Immunity\n\nUnder Division II of \"Secondary Causes or Manifestations of Disease\"\nwe find mentioned germs, bacteria, parasites, inflammations, fevers,\nskin eruptions, chronic sinus discharges, ulcers, etc.\n\nModern medical science is built up upon the germ theory of disease\nand treatment. Since the microscope has revealed the presence and\nseemingly entirely pernicious activity of certain microorganisms in\nconnection with certain diseases, it has been assumed that bacteria\nare the direct, primary causes of most diseases. Therefore, the\nslogan now is: \"Kill the bacteria (by poisonous antiseptics, serums\nand antitoxins) and you will cure the disease.\"\n\nThe Nature Cure philosophy takes a different view of the problem.\nGerms cannot be the cause of disease, because disease germs are also\nfound in healthy bodies. The real cause must be something else. We\nclaim that it is the waste and morbid matter in the system which\nafford the microorganisms of disease the opportunity to breed and\nmultiply.\n\nWe regard microorganisms as secondary manifestations of disease, and\nmaintain that bacteria and parasites live, thrive and multiply to\nthe danger point in a weakened and diseased organism only. If it\nwere not so, the human family would be extinct within a few months'\ntime.\n\nThe fear instilled by the bacterial theory of disease is frequently\nmore destructive than the microorganisms themselves. We have had\nunder observation and treatment a number of insane patients whose\npeculiar delusion or monomania was an exaggerated fear of germs, a\ngenuine bacteriophobia.\n\nKeep yourself clean and vigorous from within, and you cannot be\naffected by disease taints and germs from without.\n\nBacteria are practically omnipresent. We absorb them in food and\ndrink, we inhale them in the air we breathe. Our bodies are\nliterally alive with them. The last stages of the digestive\nprocesses depend upon the activity of millions of bacteria in the\nintestinal tract.\n\nThe proper thing to do, therefore, is not to try and kill the germs,\nbut to remove the morbid matter and disease taints in which they\nlive.\n\nInstead of concentrating its energies upon killing the germs, whose\npresence we cannot escape, Nature Cure endeavors to in-vigorate the\nsystem, to build up blood and lymph on a normal basis and to purify\nthe tissues of their morbid encumbrances in such a way as to\nestablish natural immunity to destructive germ activity. Everything\nthat tends to accomplish this without injuring the system by\npoisonous drugs or surgical operations is good Nature Cure\ntreatment.\n\nTo adopt the germ-killing process without purifying and invigorating\nthe organism would be like trying to keep a house free from fungi\nand vermin by sprinkling it daily with carbolic acid and other germ\nkillers, instead of keeping it pure and sweet by flooding it with\nfresh air and sunshine and applying freely and vigorously broom,\nbrush and plenty of soap and water. Instead of purifying it, the\nantiseptics and germ killers would only add to the filth in the\nhouse.\n\nAll bacteriologists are unanimous in declaring that the various\ndisease germs are found not only in the bodies of the sick, but also\nin seemingly healthy persons.\n\nA celebrated French bacteriologist reports that in the mouth of a\nhealthy infant, two months old, he found almost all the disease\ngerms known to medical science. Only lately, a celebrated physician,\nappointed by the French government to investigate the causes of\ntuberculosis, declared before a meeting of the International\nTuberculosis Congress in Rome that he found the bacilli of\ntuberculosis in ninety-five percent of all the school children he\nhad examined.\n\nDr. Osler, one of the greatest living medical authorities, mentions\nrepeatedly in his works that the bacilli of diphtheria, pneumonia\nand of many other virulent diseases are found in the bodies of\nhealthy persons.\n\nThe inability of bacteria, by themselves, to create diseases is\nfurther confirmed by the well-known facts of natural immunity to\nspecific infection or contagion. All mankind is more or less\naffected by hereditary and acquired disease taints, morbid\nencumbrances and drug poisoning, resulting from age-long violation\nof Nature's Laws and from the suppression of acute diseases; but\neven under the almost universal present conditions of lowered\nvitality, morbid heredity and physical and mental degeneration it is\nfound that under identical conditions of exposure to drafts or\ninfection, a certain percentage of individuals only will take the\ncold or catch the disease. The fact of natural immunity is\nconstantly confirmed by common experience as well as in the clinics\nand laboratories of our medical schools and research institutes. Of\na specific number of mice or rabbits inoculated with particles of\ncancer, only a small percentage develops the malignant growth and\nsuccumbs to its ravages.\n\nThe development of infectious and contagious diseases necessitates a\ncertain predisposition, or, as medical science calls it, \"disease\ndiathesis.\" This predisposition to infection and contagion consists\nin the primary causes of disease, which we have designated as\nlowered vitality, abnormal composition of blood and lymph, and the\naccumulation of waste, morbid matter and poisons in the system.\n\nBacteria: Secondary, Not Primary,\n\nManifestations of Disease\n\nIn a previous chapter we learned how lowered vitality weakens the\nresistance of the system to the attacks and inroads of disease germs\nand poisons. The growth and multiplication of microorganisms depend\nfurthermore upon a congenial, morbid soil. Just as the ordinary\nyeast germ multiplies in a sugar solution only, so the various\nmicroorganisms of disease thrive and multiply to the danger point\nonly in their own peculiar and congenial kind of morbid matter.\nThus, the typhoid fever bacillus thrives in a certain kind of effete\nmatter which accumulates in the intestines; the pneumonia bacilli\nflourish best in the catarrhal secretions of the lungs, and\nmeningitis bacilli in the diseased meninges of the brain and spinal\ncord.\n\nDr. Pettenkofer, a celebrated physician and professor of the\nUniversity of Vienna, also arrived at the conclusion that bacteria,\nby themselves, cannot create disease, and for years he defended his\nopinion from the lecture platform and in his writings against the\npractically solid phalanx of the medical profession. One day he\nbacked his theory by a practical test. While instructing his class\nin the bacteriological laboratory of the university, he picked up a\nglass which contained millions of live cholera germs and swallowed\nits contents before the eyes of the students. The seemingly\ndangerous experiment was followed only by a slight nausea. Lately I\nhave heard repeatedly of persons in this country who subjected\nthemselves in similar manner to infection, inoculation and contagion\nwith the most virulent kinds of bacteria and disease taints without\ndeveloping the corresponding diseases.\n\nA few years ago Dr. Rodermund, a physician in the State of\nWisconsin, created a sensation all over this country when he smeared\nhis body with the exudate of smallpox sores in order to demonstrate\nto his medical colleagues that a healthy body could not be infected\nwith the disease. He was arrested and quarantined in jail, but not\nbefore he had come in contact with many people. Neither he nor\nanyone else exposed by him developed smallpox.\n\nDuring the ten years that I have been connected with sanitarium\nwork, my workers and myself, in giving the various forms of\nmanipulative treatment, have handled intimately thousands of cases\nof infectious and contagious diseases, and I do not remember a\nsingle instance where any one of us was in the least affected by\nsuch contact. Ordinary cleanliness, good vitality, clean blood and\ntissues, the organs of elimination in good, active condition and,\nlast but not least, a positive, fearless attitude of mind will\npractically establish natural immunity to the inroads and ravages of\nbacteria and disease taints. If infection takes place, the organism\nreacts to it through inflammatory processes, and by means of these\nendeavors to overcome and eliminate microorganisms and poisons from\nthe system.\n\nIn this connection it is of interest to learn that the danger to\nlife from bites and stings of poisonous reptiles and insects has\nbeen greatly exaggerated. According to popular opinion, anyone\nbitten by a rattlesnake, gila monster or tarantula is doomed to die,\nwhile as a matter of fact the statistics show that only from two to\nseven per-cent succumb to the effects of the wounds inflicted by the\nbites of poisonous reptiles.\n\nIn this, as in many other instances, popular opinion should rather\nbe called \"popular superstition.\"\n\nIn the open discussions following my public lectures, I am often\nasked: \"What is the right thing to do in case of snakebite? Would\nyou not give plenty of whiskey to save the victim's life?\"\n\nIt is my belief that of the seven percent who die after being bitten\nby rattlesnakes or other poisonous snakes, a goodly proportion give\nup the ghost because of the effects of the enormous doses of strong\nwhiskey that are poured into them under the mistaken idea that the\nwhiskey is an efficient antidote to the snake poison.\n\nPeople do not know that the death rate from snakebite is so very\nlow, and therefore they attribute the recoveries to the whiskey,\njust as recoveries from other diseases under medical or metaphysical\ntreatment are attributed to the virtues of the particular medicine\nor method of treatment instead of to the real healer, the~ vis\nmedicatrix nature,~ the healing power of Nature, which in\nninety-three cases in a hundred eliminates the rattlesnake venom\nwithout injury to the organism.\n\nTo recapitulate: Just as yeast cells are not only the cause but also\nthe product of sugar fermentation, so disease germs are not only a\ncause (secondary) but also a product of morbid fermentation in the\nsystem. Furthermore, just as yeast germs live on and decompose\nsugar, so disease germs live on and decompose morbid matter and\nsystemic poisons.\n\nIn a way, therefore, microorganisms are just as much the product as\nthe cause of disease and act as scavengers or eliminators of morbid\nmatter. In order to hold in check the destructive activity of\nbacteria and to prevent their multiplication beyond the danger\npoint, Nature resorts to inflammation and manufactures her own\nantitoxins.\n\nOn the other hand, whatever tends to build up the blood on a natural\nbasis, to promote elimination of morbid matter and thereby to limit\nthe activity of destructive microorganisms without injuring the body\nor depressing its vital functions, is good Nature Cure practice. The\nfirst consideration, therefore, in the treatment of inflammation\nmust be to not interfere with its natural course.\n\nBy the various statements and claims made in this chapter, I do not\nwish to convey the idea that I am opposed to scrupulous cleanliness\nor surgical asepsis. Far from it! These are dictates of common\nsense. But I do affirm that the danger from germ and other\ninfectious diseases lies just as much or more so in internal filth\nas in external uncleanliness. Cleanliness and asepsis must go hand\nin hand with the purification of the inner man in order to insure\nnatural immunity.\n\n\n\nChapter VI\n\n\nThe Laws of Cure\n\n\nThis brings us to the consideration of acute inflammatory and\nfeverish diseases. From what has been said, it follows that\ninflammation and fever are not primary, but secondary,\nmanifestations of disease. There cannot arise any form of\ninflammatory disease in the system unless there is present some\nenemy to health which Nature is endeavoring to overcome and get rid\nof. On this fact in Nature is based what I claim to be the\nfundamental Law of Cure.\n\n\"Give me fever and I can cure every disease.\" Thus Hippocrates the\nFather of Medicine, expressed the fundamental Law of Cure over two\nthousand years ago. I have expressed this law in the following\nsentence: \"Every acute disease is the result of a cleansing and\nhealing effort of Nature.\"\n\nThis law, when thoroughly understood and applied to the treatment of\ndiseases, will in time do for medical science what the discovery of\nother natural laws has done for physics, astronomy, chemistry and\nother exact sciences. It will transform the medical empiricism and\nconfusion of the past and present into an exact science by\ndemonstrating the unity of disease and treatment.\n\nApplying the law in a general way, it means that all acute diseases,\nfrom a simple cold to measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, smallpox,\npneumonia, etc., represent Nature's efforts to repair injury or to\nremove from the system some kind of morbid matter, virus, poison or\nmicroorganism dangerous to health and life. In other words, acute\ndiseases cannot develop in a perfectly normal, healthy body living\nunder conditions favorable to human life. The question may be asked:\n\"If acute diseases represent Nature's healing efforts, why is it\nthat people die from them?\" The answer to this is: the vitality may\nbe too low, the injury or morbid encumbrance too great or the\ntreatment may be inadequate or harmful, so that Nature loses the\nfight; still, the acute disease represents an effort of Nature to\novercome the enemies to health and life and to reestablish normal,\nhealthy conditions.\n\nIt is a curious fact that this fundamental principle of Nature Cure\nand Law of Nature has been acknowledged and verified by medical\nscience. The most advanced works on pathology admit the constructive\nand beneficial character of inflammation. However, when it comes to\nthe treatment of acute diseases, physicians seem to forget entirely\nthis basic principle of pathology, and treat inflammation and fever\nas though they were, in themselves, inimical and destructive to\nhealth and life.\n\nFrom this inconsistency in theory and practice arise all the errors\nof allopathic medical treatment. Failure to understand this\nfundamental Law of Cure accounts for all the confusion on the part\nof the exponents of the different schools of healing sciences, and\nfor the greater part of human suffering.\n\nThe Nature Cure philosophy never loses sight of the fundamental Law\nof Cure. While allopathy regards acute disease conditions as in\nthemselves harmful and hostile to health and life, as something to\nbe cured (we should say suppressed) by drug or knife, the Nature\nCure school regards these forcible housecleanings as beneficial and\nnecessary, so long, at least, as people will continue to disregard\nNature's Laws. While, through its simple, natural methods of\ntreatment, Nature Cure easily modifies the course of inflammatory\nand feverish processes and keeps them within safe limits, it never\nchecks or suppresses these acute reactions by poisonous drugs,\nserums, antiseptics, surgical operations, suggestion or any other\nsuppressive treatment.\n\nSkin eruptions, boils, ulcers, catarrhs, diarrheas, and all other\nforms of inflammatory febrile disease conditions are indications\nthat there is something hostile to life and health in the organism\nwhich Nature is trying to remove or overcome by these so-called\n\"acute\" diseases. What, then, can be gained by suppressing them with\npoisonous drugs and surgical operations? Such practice does not\nallow Nature to carry on her work of cleansing and repair and to\nattain her ends. The morbid matter which she endeavored to eliminate\nby acute reactions is thrown back into the system. Worse than that,\ndrug poisons are added to disease poisons. Is it any wonder that\nfatal complications arise, or that the acute condition is changed to\nchronic disease?\n\nWhy Does the Greater Part of Allopathic Materia\n\nMedica Consist of Virulent Poisons?\n\nThe statements made in the preceding pages are a severe indictment\nof regular medical science, but they point out the difference in the\nbasic principles of the \"Old School\" of healing and those of the\nNature Cure philosophy.\n\nThe fundamental Law of Cure quoted in this chapter explains why\nallopathic medical science is in error, not in a few things only,\nbut in most things. The foundation, the orthodox conception of\ndisease being wrong, it follows that everything which is built\nthereon must be wrong also.\n\nNo matter how learned a man may be, if he begins a problem in\narithmetic with the proposition 2x2=5, he never will arrive at a\ncorrect solution if he continue to figure into all eternity. Neither\ncan allopathy solve the problem of disease and cure as long as its\nfundamental conception of disease is based on error.\n\nThe fundamental law of cure explains also why the great majority of\nallopathic prescriptions contain virulent poisons in some form or\nanother and why surgical operations are in high favor with the\ndisciples of the regular school.\n\nThe answer of allopathy to the question, \"Why do you give poisons?\"\nusually is, \"Our materia medica contains poisons because drug poison\nkills and eliminates disease poison.\" We, however, claim that drug\npoisons merely serve to paralyze vital force, whereby the deceptive\nresults of allopathic treatment are obtained.\n\nThe following will explain this more fully. We have learned that\nso-called acute diseases are Nature's cleansing and healing efforts.\nAll acute reactions represent increased activity of vital force,\nresulting in feverish and inflammatory conditions, accompanied by\npain, redness, swelling, high temperature, rapid pulse, catarrhal\ndischarges, skin eruptions, boils, ulcers, etc.\n\nAllopathy regards these violent activities of vital force as\ndetrimental and harmful in themselves. Anything which will inhibit\nthe action of vital force will, in allopathic parlance, cure (?)\nacute diseases. As a matter of fact, nothing more effectively\nparalyzes vital force and impairs the vital organs than poisonous\ndrugs and the surgeon's knife. These, therefore, must necessarily\nconstitute the favorite means of cure (?) of the regular school of\nmedicine.\n\nThis school mistakes effect for cause. It fails to see that the\nlocal inflammation arising within the organism is not the disease,\nbut merely marks the locality and the method through which Nature is\ntrying her best to discharge the morbid encumbrances; that the acute\nreaction is local, but that its causes or feeders are always\nconstitutional and must be treated constitutionally. When, under the\ninfluence of rational, natural treatment, the poisonous irritants\nare eliminated from blood and tissues, the local symptoms take care\nof themselves; it does not matter whether they manifest as pimple or\ncancer, as a simple cold or as consumption.\n\nThe Law of Dual Effect\n\nEverywhere in Nature rules the great Law of Action and Reaction. All\nlife sways back and forth between giving and receiving, between\naction and reaction. The very breath of life mysteriously comes and\ngoes in rhythmical flow. So also heaves and falls in ebb and tide\nthe bosom of Mother Earth.\n\nIn some of its aspects, this law is called the Law of Compensation,\nor the Law of Dual Effect. On its action depends the preservation of\nenergy.\n\nThe Great Master expressed the ethical application of this law when\nhe said:\n\n\"Give, and it shall be given unto you. . . . For with the same\nmeasure that ye mete it shall be measured to you again.\"--Luke 6:38.\n\nIn the realms of physical nature, giving and receiving, action and\nreaction balance each other mechanically and automatically. What we\ngain in power we lose in speed or volume, and vice versa. This makes\nit possible for the mechanic, the scientist and the astronomer to\npredict with mathematical precision for ages in advance the results\nof certain activities in Nature.\n\nThe great Law of Dual Effect forms the foundation of the healing\nsciences. It is related to and governs every phenomenon of health,\ndisease and cure. When I formulated the fundamental Law of Cure in\nthe words, \"Every acute disease is the result of a healing effort of\nNature,\" this was but another expression of the great Law of Action\nand Reaction. What we commonly call crisis, acute reaction or acute\ndisease is in reality Nature's attempt to establish health.\n\nApplied to the physical activity of the body, the Law of\nCom-pensation may be expressed as follows: \"Every agent affecting\nthe human organism produces two effects: a first, apparent,\ntemporary effect, and a second, lasting effect. The secondary,\nlasting effect is always contrary to the primary, transient effect.\"\n\nFor instance: The first and temporary effect of cold water applied\nto the skin consists in sending the blood to the interior; but in\norder to compensate for the local depletion, Nature responds by\nsending greater quantities of blood back to the surface, resulting\nin increased warmth and better surface circulation.\n\nThe first effect of a hot bath is to draw the blood to the surface;\nbut the secondary effect sends the blood back to the interior,\nleaving the surface bloodless and chilled.\n\nStimulants, as we shall see later on, produce their deceptive\neffects by burning up the reserve stores of vital energy in the\norganism. This is inevitably followed by weakness and exhaustion in\nexact proportion to the previous excitation.\n\nThe primary effect of relaxation and sleep is weakness, numbness and\ndeath-like stupor; the secondary effect, however, is an increase of\nvitality.\n\nThe Law of Dual Effect governs all drug action. The first,\ntemporary, violent effect of poisonous drugs, when given in\nphysiological doses, is usually due to Nature's efforts to overcome\nand eliminate these substances. The secondary, lasting effect is due\nto the retention of the drug poisons in the system and their action\non the organism.\n\nIn theory and practice, allopathy considers the first effect only\nand ignores the lasting aftereffects of drugs and surgical\noperations. It administers remedies whose first effect is contrary\nto the disease condition. Therefore, in accordance with the Law of\nAction and Reaction, the secondary, lasting effect of such remedies\nmust be similar to or like the disease condition.\n\nCommon, everyday experience should teach us that this is so, for\nlaxatives and cathartics always tend to produce chronic\nconstipation.\n\nThe secondary effect of stimulants and tonics of any kind is\nincreased weakness, and their continued use often results in\ncomplete exhaustion and paralysis of mental and physical powers.\n\nHeadache powders, pain killers, opiates, sedatives and hypnotics may\nparalyze brain and nerves into temporary insensibility; but, if due\nto constitutional causes, the pain, nervousness and insomnia will\nalways return with redoubled force. If taken habitually, these\nagents invariably tend to create heart disease and paralysis, and\nultimately develop the patient into a dope fiend.\n\nCold and catarrh cures (?), such as quinine, coal-tar products,\netc., suppress Nature's efforts to eliminate waste and morbid matter\nthrough the mucous linings of the respiratory tract, and drive the\ndisease matter back into the lungs, thus breeding pneumonia, chronic\ncatarrhs, asthma and consumption.\n\nMercury, iodine and all other alteratives, by suppression of\nexternal elimination, create internal chronic diseases of the most\ndreadful types, such as locomotor ataxy, paresis, etc.\n\nSo the recital might be continued all through orthodox materia\nmedica. Each drug breeds new disease symptoms which are in their\nturn cured (?) by other poisons, until the insane asylum or merciful\ndeath rings down the curtain on the tragedy of a ruined life.\n\nThe teaching and practice of homeopathy, as explained in Chapter\nTwenty-Six, is fully in harmony with the Law of Action and Reaction.\nActing upon the basic principle of homeopathy: ~Similia similibus\ncurantur,~ or like cures like, it administers remedies whose first,\ntemporary effect is similar to the disease conditions. In accordance\nwith the Law of Dual Effect, then, the secondary effect of these\nremedies must be contrary to the disease conditions, that is,\ncurative.\n\n\n\nChapter VII\n\n\nSuppression Versus Elimination\n\n\nMy claim that the conventional treatment of acute diseases is\nsuppressive and not curative will probably be denied by my medical\ncolleagues. They will maintain that their methods also are\ncalculated to eliminate morbid matter and disease germs from the\nsystem.\n\nBut what are the facts in actual practice? Is it not true that\npreparations of mercury, lead, zinc and other powerful poisons are\nconstantly used to suppress skin eruptions, boils, abscesses, etc.,\ninstead of allowing Nature to rid the system through these skin\ndiseases of scrofulous, venereal and psoric taints?\n\nSome time ago Dr. Wiley, the former Government Chemist, published\nthe ingredients of a number of popular remedies for colds, coughs\nand catarrh. Every one of them contained some powerful opiate or\nastringent. These poisonous drugs relieve the cough and the\ncatarrhal conditions by paralyzing the eliminative activity of the\nmembranous linings of the nasal passages, the bronchi and lungs, the\ndigestive and genitourinary organs; but in doing so, they throw back\ninto the system the morbid matter which Nature is trying to get rid\nof, and add drug poisons to disease poisons.\n\nEqually harmful is suppression by means of the surgeon's knife. It\nmay be a quicker and apparently more effective process to remove the\ninflamed appendix or the diseased tonsils than to cure them by\nbuilding up the blood and inducing elimination of systemic poisons\nby natural methods. But operative treatment is not eliminative. It\ndoes not remove from the system the original cause of the\ninflammation or deterioration of tissues and organs, but it does\nremove the outlet which Nature had established for the escape of\nmorbid materials.\n\nThese morbid encumbrances, forcibly retained in the body, weaken and\ndestroy other parts and organs, or affect the general health of the\npatient.\n\nMy own observations during nearly fifteen years of practical\nexperience, confirmed by many other conscientious observers among\nNature Cure practitioners as well as physicians of other schools and\nof allopathy itself, prove positively that the average length of\nlife after a major operation, performed on important, vital parts\nand organs, is less than ten years, and that after such an operation\nthe general health of the patient is in the great majority of cases\nnot as good as before.\n\nIn the following paragraphs are mentioned some very common instances\nof suppression and some of their usual chronic aftereffects\n(sequelae).\n\nDiarrhea is suppressed with laudanum and other opiates, which\nparalyze the peristaltic action of the bowels and, if repeated, soon\nproduce chronic constipation. Gonorrheal discharges and syphilitic\nulcers are checked and suppressed by local injections, cauterization\nand by prescriptions containing mercury, iodine and other poisonous\nalternatives which effectually prevent Nature's efforts to eliminate\nthe venereal poisons from the system.\n\nGonorrheal discharges and syphilitic ulcers are checked and\nsupressed by local injections, cauterizatin, and by prescriptions\ncontaining mercury, iodine, and other poisonous alternatives which\neffectually prevent Nature's efforts to elminate the venereal\npoisons from the system.\n\nAll feverish diseases are more or less interfered with or suppressed\nby antiseptics, antipyretics, serums and antitoxins. The best books\non ~Materia Medica~ and the professors in the colleges teach that\nthese remedies lower the fever because they are \"protoplasmic\npoisons\"; because they paralyze the red and white blood corpuscles,\nbenumb heart action and respiration, and depress all vital\nfunctions.\n\nNervousness, sleeplessness and pain are suppressed by sedatives,\nopiates and hypnotics. Every one of the drugs used for such purposes\nis a powerful poison which paralyzes brain and nerve action, in that\nway interfering with Nature's healing efforts and frequently\npreventing the consummation of beneficial healing crises.\n\nEpileptic attacks and other forms of convulsions are suppressed, but\nnever cured, by bromides which benumb and paralyze the brain and\nnerve centers. All that these sedatives accomplish is to produce in\nthe course of time idiocy and the different forms of paralysis and\npremature senility.\n\nHowever, is he not considered the best doctor who can most promptly\nproduce these and many similar deceptive results through artificial\ninhibition or stimulation by means of the most virulent poisons\nfound on earth?\n\nDandruff and falling hair are caused by the elimination of systemic\npoisons through the scalp. The thing to do, therefore, is not to\nsuppress this elimination and thereby cause the accumulation of\npoisons in the brain, but to stop the manufacture of poison in the\nbody and to promote its removal through the natural channels.\n\nDandruff cures and hair tonics contain glycerine, poisonous\nantiseptics and stimulants which are absorbed by scalp and brain,\ncausing dizziness, headaches, loss of memory, neurasthenia,\ndeaf-ness, weakness of sight, etc.\n\nHead lice and similar parasites peculiar to other parts of the body\nlive on scrofulous and psoriotic taints. When these are consumed,\nthe lice depart as they came, no one knows whence or whither.\n\nThis is confirmed by the fact that these noxious pests do not remain\nwith all people who have been exposed to them, but only with those\nwhose internal or external filth conditions furnish the parasites\nwith the means of subsistence.\n\nIn a number of instances we have seen \"healing crises\" take the form\nof lice. At that time the patients were living in the most clean\nsurroundings, taking different forms of water treatment every day\nand infection was practically impossible.\n\nThese people invariably recalled that they had been infested with\nparasites at some previous time, and that strong antiseptics,\nmercurial salves, or other means of suppression had been applied.\n\nWe prescribe for the removal of lice only cold water and the comb.\nEven antiseptic soaps should be avoided.\n\nThe Results of Suppression of Children's Diseases\n\nSycotic eruptions on the heads and bodies of infants, also called\nmilk scurf, if suppressed by salves, cream, unsalted butter or\nmerely by warm bathing, are often followed by chorea (St. Vitus'\ndance), epilepsy, a scrofulous constitution and in later life by\ntuberculosis.\n\nMeasles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, spinal meningitis and other\nfebrile diseases of childhood, if properly treated by natural\nmethods, are curative or at least corrective in their effects on the\nsystem, and represent well-defined, orderly natural processes for\nthe elimination of inherited or acquired disease taints, drug\npoisons, etc. But if arrested or suppressed before they have run\ntheir natural course, before Nature has had time to reestablish\nnormal conditions, then the abnormal condition becomes fixed and\npermanent (chronic).\n\nIn addition to this, the poisons and serums employed to arrest the\ndisease process very often affect vital parts and organs\npermanently, causing the gradual deterioration of cells and tissues,\nand paving the way for tuberculosis, chronic affection of the\nkidneys, cancer, etc., in later years.\n\nThese self-evident facts, which can be verified by any unprejudiced\nobserver, account for the \"mysterious sequelae\" of drug-and\nserum-treated acute diseases, which never occur where natural\nmethods of healing have been correctly employed. Some of these\nchronic aftereffects are deafness, blindness, heart and kidney\ndiseases, nervous affections, idiocy, infantile paralysis, etc.\n\nThese are merely a few ordinary examples of the results of\nsuppression. They could be multiplied a hundred fold, yet medical\nscience assures us that the causes of cancer and other malignant\ndiseases are unknown.\n\nGood Nature Cure Doctrine from an Allopathic Authority\n\nThe following utterances of the late Dr. Nicholas Senin strongly\nconfirm our claims as to the nature and cure of disease. Coming from\nthe lips of a celebrated surgeon and physician, these statements\nshould carry some weight with those who, being unable to reason for\nthemselves, worship at the feet of \"authority.\" The quotations\nreferred to are taken from the report of an interview granted by the\ndoctor to Chicago newspaper representatives on his return from his\ntrip around the world.\n\n[Chicago American, August 5th, 1906.]\n\nGERMS PLANTED BY TIGHT LACING\n\nOver-Feeding and Over-Dressing Given as Causes of Cancer\n\n\"Dr. Nicholas Senn brought back from Africa, from whence he returned\nto Chicago yesterday, confirmations of his belief that cancer is a\n'civilized' disease.\n\n\"Dr. Senn spent from $2,000 to $3,000 worth of time--at the cash\nvalue per hour of his time on his first day at home for four months,\ntelling a half dozen newspaper men more than all the world, except\nhimself and a score of specialists like him, know about the fearful\ndisease. He summed up his own learning in the statement that the\ndisease is still incurable except by the knife in its incipient\nstages and that the best preventive is clean, plain living.\n\n\"His investigations of the natives of Africa served to strengthen\nhis conviction that cancer is a product of civilization, 'like\napoplexy and scores of other exotic ailments,' Dr. Senn said. He\ncould not find or hear of a case of cancer among the 'Hamites,' as\nhe termed them. And from the fact that he found the disease, to be\nan unknown one to the Esquimaux of Greenland, he is assured that\nclimate has nothing whatever to do with it. Climate did not cause\nit, and climate will not cure it.\"\n\nCancer Caused by Over-Living\n\n\"'The nearer the human race approaches the animals in habits and\nparticularly in the matter of diet and dress, the freer it is from\ncancer,' he said. 'Cancer comes from over-feeding and over-living.\n\n\"'Drinking, gourmandizing, unnatural habits of women, like lacing,\nall those things help to plant the seeds of cancer in the child.\n\n\"'And as we have not learned to cure it the best thing to do is to\nprevent it when we can. If children were brought up in simplicity by\nnatural mothers; then, if care should be taken to prevent\nhypernutrition, there would be much less danger from cancer. Cancer\nitself is an over-fed thing--tissue that never matures, for if I\ncould mature the cells I could cure the disease. The thing for\npeople to do who fear they may have inherited it, is to live\nsimply--there are many cases among people with a tendency to obesity\nto one among those of a scanty habit of living--and particularly to\nremove all sources of irritation, like bad teeth, tobacco, and\nclothes that chafe.'\"\n\nStudies African Race\n\n\"Besides his hobby, as he calls it, Dr. Senn studied the African\ngenerally in his voyage along the East Coast of that continent.\n\n\"'It was a fine trip,' he said, 'with so many things to learn.\nEthnologically I am certain Africans are of common stock. The negro\nis a negro wherever you find him. From Kaffir to Bushman and pygmy\nthey are all Hamites.\n\n\"'They are mostly a fine people physically, lean and tall, except\nthe dwarfs. There is little tendency toward obesity; they have no\napoplexy, no distended veins as we have in civilization. Hence their\nfreedom from cancer. They live naturally, and are vegetarians\nmostly, while the Northern Esquimaux are meat-eaters, but both races\neat naturally to sustain life, hence their immunity from that\ndisease. It is where eating is made an art that cancer is most\nprevalent.\n\n\"'They are free from many other diseases that pester us also.\nTuberculosis is hardly known, and only along the coast, where it has\nbeen taken by the whites. The real curse of the coast country is\nmalaria. It is bad all up and down the East shore. I kept away from\nit myself by taking five grains of quinine and the juice of a lemon\nonce a day on an empty stomach. That is a good remedy for malaria,\nfor in all my running around I have never had it.\"\n\n(Editor's Note.--Dr. Senn died January 2, 1908. The papers stated\nafter his death, that the doctor had never been well since the\nreturn from his long voyage, that his heart and nervous system had\nbeen seriously affected by the altitudes of the Andes and of other\nmountains. We wonder whether the \"high altitudes\" or the \"five\ngrains of quinine daily\" were to blame for the celebrated\nphysician's heart disease and death.)\n\nSuppression, the Cause of Chronic Diseases\n\nDr. Senn was right. If men and women lived more naturally, the\nmajority of diseases would disappear.\n\nThe primary cause of disease is violation of Nature's Laws.\n\"Civilization\" has largely stood for artificiality of life and for\nunnatural habits. A higher civilization, yet to come, will combine\nthe most exquisite culture of heart and mind with true simplicity\nand naturalness of living. Excessive meat eating, strong spices and\ncondiments, alcohol, coffee, tea, overwork, night work, fear, worry,\nsensuality, corsets, high heels, foul air, improper breathing, lack\nof exercise, loveless marriages, race suicide, all of these and many\nother evils of hypercivlization have contributed their share in\ncreating the universal degeneracy of civilized nations commented\nupon by Dr. Senn.\n\nWhen the unnatural habits of life alluded to have lowered the\nvitality and favored the accumulation of waste matter and poisons to\nsuch an extent that the sluggish bowels, kidneys, skin and the other\norgans of elimination are unable to keep a clean house, Nature has\nto resort to other, more radical means of purification or we should\nchoke in our own impurities. These forcible housecleanings of Nature\nare colds, catarrh, skin eruptions, diarrheas, boils, ulcers,\nabnormal perspiration, hemorrhages and many other forms of\ninflammatory febrile diseases.\n\nSulphur and mercury may drive back the skin eruptions, antipyretics\nand antiseptics may suppress fever and catarrh. The patient and the\ndoctor may congratulate themselves on a speedy cure; but what is the\ntrue state of affairs? Nature has been thwarted in her work of\nhealing and cleansing. She had to give up the fight against disease\nmatter in order to combat the more potent poisons of mercury,\nquinine, iodine, strychnine, etc. The disease matter is still in the\nsystem, plus the drug poison.\n\nProof positive of the retention of drug poisons in the organism is\nfurnished by the Diagnosis from the Eye. This will be explained more\nfully in another chapter.\n\nWhen vitality has been sufficiently restored, Nature may make\nanother attempt at purification, this time, possibly, in another\ndirection; but again her well-meant efforts are defeated. This\nprocess of suppression is repeated over and over again until blood\nand tissues become so loaded with waste material and poisons that\nthe healing forces of the organism can no longer react against them\nby acute diseases. Then results the chronic condition, which in the\nvocabulary of the \"Old School\" of medicine is only another name for\nincurable disease.\n\nThe more skilled the allopathic school becomes in the suppression\nand prevention of acute diseases by drugs, knife, x-rays, serums,\nvaccination virus, etc., the greater will be the increase of chronic\ndyspepsia, nervous prostration, insanity, locomotor ataxy, paresis,\ncancer, secondary and tertiary syphilis, tuberculosis and many other\nso-called incurable diseases. Thus, the standard medical practice is\nself-supporting; the treatment of acute conditions assuring a\nlifelong supply of chronic conditions for the doctor to treat.\n\nSuppression of acute diseases, by drugs and knife, is the\nall-important factor in the creation of malignant diseases which Dr.\nSenn had overlooked in his discourse on the causes of distructive\nailments. If he had steudied his experiences in foreign lands in the\nlight of these explanations he would have found that these scourges\nof mankind exist only in those parts of earth where the drug store\nflourishes.\n\nThese statements may seem exaggerated; but allow me to cite a few\ntypical cases of suppression and their effects upon the system from\nour daily practice.\n\nParesis, locomotor ataxy and paralysis agitans are not, as is\nusually assumed, due to secondary and tertiary syphilis, but to the\nmercury administered for the cure of luetic and other diseases. In\nless than six months' time we cure the so-called specific diseases\nby our natural methods, provided they are not suppressed and\ncomplicated by mercury, iodine or other poisonous drugs. We never\ninterfere with the original lesion, but allow Nature to discharge\nthe poisons through the channels established for this purpose.\n\nUnder this rational treatment, discharge and ulcer act as fontanels\nto the system. Not only the specific poison, but much of hereditary\nand acquired disease matter also are eliminated in the process; and\nafter such a cure, blood and tissues of the patient are purer than\nthey were before infection.\n\nThe foregoing statement has nothing to do with the moral aspects\ninvolved in acquiring venereal diseases. In this connection we are\ndealing solely with the rational or irrational treatment of the\ninfection after it has been contracted. We do not wish to intimate\nthat it is advisable to cure the body by killing the soul.\n\nNevertheless, we must deal with the facts in Nature as we find them.\nFurthermore, a great many persons, especially women and children,\nacquire these diseases innocently. Are we not justified in relieving\ntheir minds of needless fear and in showing them the way to prevent\nthe dreadful sufferings of the secondary and tertiary stages brought\non by suppressive drug treatment by means of mercury, the iodides,\n\"606,\" etc.?\n\nThese poisonous drugs suppress the initial lesion and diffuse the\ndisease poison through the system. Nature takes up the work of\nelimination by means of skin eruptions and ulcers in various parts\nof the body, but these also are promptly suppressed with mercurial\nointments and other alternatives. This process of suppression is\ncontinued for months and years, until the organism is so thoroughly\nsaturated with alterative poisons that vital force can no longer\nreact by acute reactions against the original syphilitic poisons.\nThis state of vital paralysis is then called a cure.\n\nThe medical professor, however, knows better. He instructs the\nstudents from the lecture platform: \"When, after two or three years\nof mercurial treatment, syphilitic symptoms cease to appear, you may\npermit the patient to marry--but never guarantee a cure.\"\n\nWhy not? Because the professor is aware that the offspring of such a\nunion are born with hereditary symptoms well known to every\nphysician, and because the patient thus cured (?) may turn up in the\ndoctor's office at any time thereafter with a hole in his palate,\nulcers on his body, caries of the bones or with other secondary and\ntertiary symptoms.\n\nMercury has an especial affinity for the bony structures. It will\nwork its way through the vertebrae of the spine and the bones of the\nskull into the nerve matter of the brain and spinal cord, causing\ninflammation, excruciating headaches, nervous symptoms, girdle\npains, etc. These stages of acute inflammation are followed in a few\nyears by sclerosis (hardening) of nerve matter and blood vessels,\nresulting in paresis, locomotor ataxy or paralysis agitans.\n\nNeither is it necessary to contract specific diseases in order to\nfall a victim to these dreadful conditions: mercury, iodine and\nother destructive alternatives are given in a hundred different\nforms for a multitude of other ailments.\n\nA few years ago we had under our care a patient in the last stages\nof locomotor ataxy, who for years had been suffering the tortures of\nthe damned. There had never been a taint of specific disease in her\nsystem, but four different times in her life she had been salivated\nby calomel (a common laxative containing mercury). This dreadful\npoison was given to her in large doses for the cure of liver trouble\nand constipation. She was only fourteen years old when, on account\nof this, she first suffered from acute mercurial poisoning.\n\nAnother patient who, after fifteen years of slow and torturous dying\nby inches, succumbed to the same disease, absorbed the mercurial\npoison in his boyhood days while attending a boarding school. He was\ntwice salivated by mercurial ointments applied to cure the itch\n(scabies), a disease which was epidemic at times among the boys. He\nlikewise never had a syphilitic disease.\n\nA young man, insane at the age of thirty, absorbed the infernal\npoison when four years of age. He had at the time a psoric skin\neruption, but the family physician suspected syphilitic infection\nfrom the nurse girl and kept the child under mercury for six months.\nHow do we know that the diagnosis of syphilis was false? Because the\niris of the eye revealed \"psora\" as the cause of the suspicious\neruption which reappeared several times later in life, and because\nthe servant girl was afterwards absolutely exonerated by competent\nphysicians.\n\nProofs by the Diagnosis from the Eye\n\nWe have treated many hundreds of cases of so-called chronic\nneuralgia, neuritis, rheumatism, neurasthenia, epilepsy and idiocy,\ndue to the pernicious effects of quinine, iodine, arsenic,\nstrychnine, coal-tar products and other virulent poisons taken under\nthe guise of medicine.\n\nHow do we know that this is so?\n\nBecause the Diagnosis from the Eye plainly reveals the presence of\nthese poisons in the system. Because the drug signs in the eye are\naccompanied by the symptoms of these poisons in the system. Because\nthe record in the eye is confirmed by the history of the patient.\nBecause, under natural living and treatment, diseases long ago\nsuppressed by drugs or knife reappear as healing crises. Because, in\nthese healing crises, drugs indicated by the signs in the iris of\nthe eye are frequently eliminated under their own peculiar symptoms.\nBecause, to the extent that a drug is eliminated from the system by\na healing crisis, its sign will disappear from the iris of the eye.\n\nTo illustrate:\n\nThe Diagnosis from the Eye reveals heavy quinine poisoning in the\nregion of the brain. This enables us to say to the patient, without\nquestioning him, that he suffers from severe frontal headaches and\nringing in the ears, that he is very irritahle, and so on through\nthe various symptoms of quinine poisoning. The history of the\npatient reveals the fact that he has taken large amounts of quinine\nfor colds, la grippe or malaria. Under our methods of natural living\nand treatment, the patient improves; the organism becomes more\nvigorous, and the organs of elimination act more freely; the latent\npoisons are stirred up in their hiding places; healing crises make\ntheir appearance. The processes of elimination thus inaugurated\ndevelop various symptoms of acute poisoning. The eliminating crises\nare accompanied by headaches, ringing in the ears, nasal catarrh,\nbone pains, neuritis, strong taste of quinine in the mouth, etc.\nEvery healing crisis, if naturally treated, diminishes the signs of\ndisease and drug poisons in the eye.\n\n\n\nChapter VIII\n\n\nInflammation\n\n\nFrom what has already been said on this subject, it will have become\napparent that inflammatory and feverish diseases are just as\nnatural, orderly and lawful as anything else in Nature, that,\ntherefore, after they have once started, they must not be checked or\nsuppressed by poisonous drugs and surgical operations.\n\nInflammatory processes can be kept within safe limits, and they must\nbe assisted in their constructive tendencies by the natural methods\nof treatment. To check and suppress acute diseases before they have\nrun their natural course means to suppress Nature's purifying and\nhealing efforts, to court fatal complications and to change the\nacute, constructive reactions into chronic disease conditions.\n\nThose who have followed the preceding chapters will remember that\ntheir general trend has been to prove one of the fundamental\nprinciples of Nature Cure philosophy, namely the Unity of Disease\nand Cure.\n\nWe claim that all acute diseases are uniform in their causes, their\npurpose, and if conditions are favorable, uniform also in their\nprogressive development.\n\nIn former chapters I endeavored to prove and to elucidate the unity\nof acute diseases in regard to their causes and their purpose, the\nlatter not being destructive, but constructive and beneficial. I\ndemonstrated that the microorganisms of disease are not the\nunmitigated nuisance and evil which they are commonly regarded, but\nthat, like everything else in Nature, they, too, serve a useful\npurpose. I showed that it depends upon ourselves whether their\nactivity is harmful and destructive, or beneficial: upon our manner\nof living and of treating acute reactions.\n\nLet us now trace the unity of acute diseases in regard to their\ngeneral course by a brief examination of the processes of\ninflammation and their progressive development through five\nwell-defined stages. We shall base our studies on the most advanced\nworks on pathology and bacteriology.\n\nThe Story of Inflammation\n\nTo me the story of inflammation has been one of the most wonderful\nrevelations of the complex activities of the human organism. More\nthan anything else it confirms to me the fundamental principles of\nNature Cure, the fact that Nature is a good healer, not a poor one.\n\nBefore inflammation can arise, there must exist an exciting cause in\nthe form of some obstruction or of some agent inimical to health and\nlife. Such excitants of inflammation may be dead cells, blood clots,\nfragments of bone and other effete matter produced in the system\nitself or they may be foreign bodies such as particles of dust,\nsoot, stone, iron or other metals, slivers of wood, etc.; again,\nthey may be microorganisms or parasites.\n\nWhen one or more of these exciting agents of inflammation are\npresent in the tissues of the body in sufficient strength to call\nforth the reaction and opposition of the healing forces, the\nmicroscope will always reveal the following phenomena, slightly\nvarying under different conditions:\n\nThe blood rushes to the area of irritation. Owing to this increased\nblood pressure, the minute arteries and veins in the immediate\nneighborhood of the excitant dilate and increase in size. The\ndistension of the blood vessels stretches and thereby weakens their\nwalls. Through these the white blood corpuscles squeeze their mobile\nbodies and work their way through the intervening tissues toward the\naffected area.\n\nIn some mysterious way they seem to sense the exact location of the\ndanger point and hurry toward it in large numbers like soldiers\nsummoned to meet an invading army. This faculty of the white blood\ncorpuscles to apprehend the presence and exact location of the enemy\nhas been ascribed to chemical attraction and is called ~chemotaxis.~\n\nThe army of defense is made up of the white blood corpuscles or\nleukocytes and of connective tissue cells which separate themselves\nfrom the neighboring tissues. All these wandering cells possess the\nfaculty of absorbing and digesting microbes. They contain certain\nproteolytic or protein-splitting ferments, by means of which they\ndecompose and digest poisons and hostile microorganisms. On account\nof their activity as germ destroyers, these cells have been called\ngerm killers or ~phagocytes~. In their movements and actions these\nvaliant little warriors act very much like intelligent beings,\nanimated by the qualities of patience, perseverance, courage,\nforesight and self-sacrifice.\n\nThe phagocytes absorb morbid matter, poisons or microorganisms by\nenveloping them with their own bodies. It is a hand-to-hand fight,\nand many of the brave little soldiers are destroyed by the poisons\nand bacteria which they attack and swallow. What we call pus is made\nup of the bodies of live and dead phagocytes, disease taints and\ngerms, blood serum, broken-down tissues and cells, in short, the\ndebris of the battlefield.\n\nWe can now understand how the processes just described produce the\nwell-known cardinal symptoms of inflammation and fever; the redness,\nheat and swelling due to increased blood pressure, congestion and\nthe accumulation of exudates; the pain due to irritation and to\npressure on the nerves. We can also realize how impaired nutrition\nand the obstruction and destruction in the affected parts and organs\nwill interfere with and inhibit functional activity.\n\nThe organism has still other ways and means of defending itself. At\nthe time of bacterial infection, certain germ-killing substances are\ndeveloped in the blood serum. Science has named these defensive\nproteins ~alexins.~ It has also been found that the phagocyte and\ntissue cells in the neighborhood of the area of irritation produce\nantipoisons or natural antitoxins, which neutralize the bacterial\npoisons and kill the microorganisms of disease.\n\nWith the Evil, Nature Provides the Cure\n\nFurthermore, the growth and development of bacteria and parasites is\ninhibited and finally arrested by their own waste products. We have\nan example of this in the yeast germ, which thrives and multiplies\nin the presence of sugar in solution. Living on and digesting the\nsugar, it decomposes the sugar molecules into alcohol and carbonic\nacid. As the alcohol increases during the process of fermentation,\nit gradually arrests the development and activity of the yeast\ncells.\n\nSimilar phenomena accompany the activity of disease germs and\nparasites. They produce certain waste products which gradually\ninhibit their own growth and increase. The vaccines, serums and\nantitoxins of medical science are prepared from these bacterial\nexcrements and from extracts made of the bodies of bacteria.\n\nIn the serum and antitoxin treatment, therefore, the allopathic\nschool is imitating Nature's procedure in checking the growth of\nmicroorganisms, but with this difference: Nature does not suppress\nthe growth and multiplication of disease germs until the morbid\nmatter on which they subsist has been decomposed and consumed, and\nuntil the inflammatory processes have run their course through the\nfive stages of inflammation; while serums and antitoxins given in\npowerful doses at the different stages of any disease may check and\nsuppress germ activity and the processes of inflammation before the\nlatter have run their natural course and before the morbid matter\nhas been eliminated.\n\nThe Five Stages of Inflammation\n\nWhat has been said in former chapters confirms my claim that all\nacute diseases are uniform in their causes and in their purpose.\nFrom the foregoing description of inflammation it will have become\nclear that they are also uniform in their pathological development.\nThe uniformity of acute inflammatory processes becomes still more\napparent when we follow them through their five succeeding stages,\nthat is: Incubation, Aggravation, Destruction, Abatement and\nReconstruction, as illustrated in the following diagram:\n\nI. Incubation. The first section of the diagram corresponds to the\nperiod of Incubation, the time between the exposure to an infectious\ndisease and its development. This period may last from a few minutes\nto a few days, weeks, months or even years.\n\nDuring this stage morbid matter, poisons, microorganisms and other\nexcitants of inflammation gather and concentrate in certain parts\nand organs of the body. When they have accumulated to such an extent\nas to interfere with the normal functions or to endanger the health\nand life of the organism, the life forces begin to react to the\nobstruction or threatening danger by means of the inflammatory\nprocesses before described.\n\nII. Aggravation. During the period of Aggravation the battle between\nthe phagocytes and Nature's antitoxins on the one hand, and the\npoisons and microorganisms of disease on the other hand, gradually\nprogresses, accompanied by a corresponding increase of fever and\ninflammation, until it reaches its climax, marked by the greatest\nintensity of feverish symptoms.\n\nIII. Destruction. This battle between the forces of disease and the\nhealing forces is accompanied by the disintegration of tissues due\nto the accumulation of exudates, to pus formation, the development\nof abscesses, boils, fistulas, open sores, etc., and to other morbid\nchanges. It involves the destruction of phagocytes, bacteria, blood\nvessels, and tissues just as a battle between contending human\narmies results in loss of life and property.\n\nThe stage of Destruction ends in crisis, which may be either fatal\nor beneficial. If the healing forces of the organism are in the\nascendancy, and if they are supported by right treatment which tends\nto build up the blood, increase the vitality and promote\nelimination, then the poisons and the microorganisms of disease will\ngradually be overcome, absorbed or eliminated and, by degrees, the\ntissues will be cleared of the debris of the battlefield.\n\nIV. Abatement. The absorption and elimination of exudates, pus,\netc., take place during the period of abatement. It is accompanied\nby a gradual lowering of temperature, pulse rate and the other\nsymptoms of fever and inflammation.\n\nV. Resolution or Reconstruction. When the period of Abate-ment has\nrun its course and the affected areas have been cleared of the\nmorbid accumulations and obstructions, then, during the fifth stage\nof inflammation, the work of rebuilding the injured parts and organs\nbegins. More or less destruction has taken place in the cells and\ntissues, the blood vessels and organs of the areas involved. These\nmust now be reconstructed, and this last stage of the inflammatory\nprocess is, therefore, in a way the most important. On the perfect\nregeneration of the injured parts depends the final effect of the\nacute disease upon the organism.\n\nIf the inflammation has been allowed to run its course through the\ndifferent stages of acute activity and the final stage of\nReconstruction, then every acute disease, whatever its name and\ndescription may be, will prove beneficial to the organism because\nmorbid matter, foreign bodies, poisons and microorganisms have been\neliminated from the system; abnormal and diseased tissues have been\nbroken down and built up again to a purer and more normal condition.\n\nAs it were, the acute disease has acted upon the organism like a\nthunderstorm on the sultry, vitiated summer air. It has cleared the\nsystem of impurities and destructive influences, and re-established\nwholesome, normal conditions. Therefore acute diseases, when treated\nin harmony with Nature's intent, always prove beneficial.\n\nIf, however, through neglect or wrong treatment, the inflammatory\nprocesses are not allowed to run their natural course, if they are\nchecked or suppressed by poisonous drugs, the ice bag or surgical\noperations, or if the disease conditions in the system are so far in\nthe ascendancy that the healing forces cannot react properly, then\nthe constructive forces may lose the battle and the disease may take\na fatal ending or develop into chronic ailments.\n\nSuppression During the First\n\nTwo Stages of Inflammation\n\nIt may be suggested that suppression during the stages of Incubation\nand Aggravation need not have fatal consequences if followed by\nnatural living and eliminative treatment. To this I would reply:\n\"Such procedure always involves the danger of concentrating the\ndisease poisons in vital parts and organs, thus laying the\nfoundation for chronic destructive diseases.\"\n\nFurthermore, it is not at all necessary to suppress inflammatory\nprocesses by poisonous drugs and other unnatural means, because we\ncan easily and surely control them and keep them from becoming\ndangerous by our natural means of treatment.\n\nI shall now endeavor to prove and to illustrate the foregoing\ntheoretical expositions by following the development of various\ndiseases through the five stages of inflammation. I shall first take\nup the commonest of all forms of disease, the cold.\n\nCatching a Cold\n\nAccording to popular opinion, the catching of colds is responsible\nfor the greater portion of human ailments. Almost daily I hear from\npatients who come for consultation: All my troubles date back to a\ncold I took at such and such a time, etc. Then I have to explain\nthat colds are not taken suddenly and from without but that they\ncome from within, that their period of Incubation may have extended\nover months or years, that a clean, healthy body possessed of good\nvitality cannot take cold under the ordinary thermal conditions\ncongenial to human life, no matter how sudden the change in\ntemperature.\n\nAt first glance, this may seem to be contrary to common experience\nas well as to the theory and practice of medical science. But let us\nfollow the development of a cold from start to finish. This will\nthrow some light on the question as to whether it can be caught, or\nwhether it develops slowly within the organism; also whether this\ndevelopment or incubation may extend over a long period of time.\n\nTaking cold may be caused by chilling of the surface of the body or\npart of the body. In the chilled portions of the skin the pores\nclose, the blood recedes into the interior, and as a result of this\nthe elimination of poisonous gases and exudates through these\nportions of the skin is suppressed.\n\nThis catching a cold through being exposed to a cold draft, through\nwet clothing, etc., is not necessarily followed by more serious\nconsequences. If the system is not too much encumbered with morbid\nmatter and if kidneys and intestines are in fairly good working\norder, these organs will take care of the extra amount of waste and\nmorbid materials in place of the temporarily inactive skin and\neliminate them without difficulty. The greater the vitality and the\nmore normal the composition of the blood, the better the system will\nreact in such an emergency and throw off the morbid matter which\nfailed to be eliminated through the skin.\n\nIf, however, the organism is already overloaded with waste and\nmorbid materials, if the bowels and the kidneys are already weakened\nand atrophied through continued overwork and overstimulation, if, in\naddition to this, the vitality has been lowered through excesses or\noverexertion and the vital fluids are in an abnormal condition, then\nthe morbid matter thrown into the circulation by the chilling and\ntemporary inactivity of the skin cannot find an outlet through the\nregular channels of elimination and endeavors to escape by way of\nthe mucous linings of the nasal passages, the throat, bronchi,\nstomach, bowels and genitourinary organs.\n\nThe waste materials and poisonous exudates which are being\neliminated through these internal membranes cause irritation and\ncongestion, and thus produce the well-known symptoms of inflammation\nand catarrhal elimination: sneezing (coryza), cough, expectoration,\nmucous discharges, diarrhea, leucorrhea [vaginal dis-charge], etc.\nIn other words, these so-called colds are nothing more or less than\ndifferent forms of vicarious elimination. The membranous linings of\nthe internal organs are doing the work for the inactive, sluggish\nand atrophied skin, kidneys and intestines. The greater the\naccumulation of morbid matter in the system, the lower the vitality,\nand the more abnormal the composition of the blood and lymph, the\ngreater will be the liability to the catching of colds.\n\nWhat is to be gained by suppressing the different forms of catarrhal\nelimination with cough and catarrh cures containing opiates,\nastringents, antiseptics, germkillers and antipyretics? Is it not\nobvious that such a procedure interferes with Nature's purifying\nefforts, that it hinders and suppresses the inflammatory processes\nand the accompanying elimination of morbid matter from the system?\nWorst of all, that it adds drug poisons to disease poisons?\n\nSuch a course can have but one result, namely the changing of\nNature's cleansing and healing efforts into chronic disease.\n\nFrom the foregoing it will have become clear that the cause of a\ncold lies not so much in the cold draft, or the wet feet, as in the\nprimary causes of all disease: lowered vitality, deterioration of\nthe vital fluids and the accumulation of morbid matter and poisons\nin the system.\n\nThe incubation period of the cold may have extended over many years\nor over an entire lifetime.\n\nWhat, then, is the natural cure for colds? There can be but one\nremedy: increased elimination through the proper channels. This is\naccomplished by judicious dieting and fasting, and through restoring\nthe natural activity of the skin, kidneys and bowels by means of wet\npacks, cold sprays and ablutions, sitz baths, massage, chiropractic\nor osteopathic manipulation, homeopathic remedies, exercise, sun and\nair baths and all other methods of natural treatment that save\nvitality, build up the blood on a normal basis and promote\nelimination without injuring the organism.\n\nSuppression During the Third\n\nStage of Inflammation\n\nShould the inflammatory processes be suppressed during the stage of\nDestruction, the results would be still more serious and\nfar-reaching. We have learned that during this stage the affected\nparts and organs are involved in more or less disintegration. They\nare filled with morbid exudates, pus, etc., which interfere with and\nmake impossible normal nutrition and functioning. If suppression\ntakes place during this stage, it is obvious that the affected areas\nwill be left permanently in a condition of destruction.\n\nHere is an illustration from practical life: Suppose necessary\nchanges and repairs have to be made in a house. Workmen have torn\ndown the partitions, hangings, wallpaper, etc. At this stage of the\nproceedings the owner discharges the workmen and the house is left\nin a condition of chaos. Surely, this would not be rational. It\nwould leave the house unfit for habitation. But such a procedure\nwould correspond exactly to the suppression of inflammatory diseases\nduring the stage of Destruction. This also leaves the affected\norgans permanently in an abnormal, diseased condition.\n\nThat accounts for the mysterious sequelae or chronic after-effects\nwhich so often follow drug-treated acute diseases. I have traced\nnumerous cases of chronic affections of the lungs and kidneys, of\ninfantile paralysis and of many other chronic ailments to such\nsuppression. In the following I shall describe a typical case, which\ncame under our care and treatment a few years ago.\n\nSuppression by Means of the Ice Bag\n\nA few years ago several gentlemen of Greek nationality called on me\nwith the request that I visit a friend of theirs who had been lying\nsick for about two months in one of our great West Side [Chicago]\nhospitals. On investigation I found that the patient had entered the\nhospital suffering from a mild case of pneumonia. The doctors of the\ninstitution had ordered ice packs. Rubber sheets filled with ice\nwere applied to the chest and other parts of the body. This had been\ndone for several weeks until the fever subsided.\n\nAs a matter of fact, ice is more suppressive than antifever\nmedicines. The continued icy cold applications chill the parts of\nthe body to which they are applied, depress the vital functions and\neffectually suppress the inflammatory processes.\n\nThe result in this case, as in many similar ones which I had\noccasion to observe during and after the ice-bag treatment, was that\nthe inflammation in the lungs had been arrested and suppressed\nduring the stage of destruction, when the air cells and tissues were\nfilled with exudates, blood serum, pus, live and dead blood cells,\nbacteria, etc., leaving the affected areas of the lungs in a\nconsolidated, liver-like condition.\n\nAs a consequence of suppression in the case of this Greek patient,\nthe pneumonia had been changed from the acute to the subacute and\nchronic stages and the doctors in charge had told his friends that\nhe was now suffering from miliary tuberculosis, and would probably\ndie within a week or two.\n\nAfter receiving this discouraging information, the friends of the\npatient came to me and prevailed upon me to take charge of the case.\nHe was transferred to our institution, and we began at once to apply\nthe natural methods of treatment. Instead of ice packs we used the\nregular cold-water packs, strips of linen wrung out of water of\nordinary temperature wrapped around the body and covered with\nseveral layers of flannel bandages.\n\nThe wet packs became warm on the body in a few minutes. They relaxed\nthe pores and drew the blood into the surface, thus promoting heat\nradiation and the elimination of morbid matter through the skin.\nThey did not suppress the fever, but kept it below the danger point.\n\nUnder this treatment, accompanied by fasting and judicious\nosteopathic manipulation, the inflammatory and feverish processes\nsuppressed by the ice packs soon revived, became once more active\nand aggressive, and were now allowed to run their natural course\nthrough the stages of destruction, absorption (abatement) and\nreconstruction.\n\nThe result of the Nature Cure treatment was that about two months\nafter the patient entered our institution, his friends bought him a\nticket to sunny Greece. He had a good journey, and in the congenial\nclimate of his native country made a perfect recovery.\n\nI have observed a number of similar cases suffering from\nconsolidation of the lungs and the resulting asthmatic or tubercular\nconditions, which had been doctored into these chronic ailments by\nmeans of antipyretics and of ice.\n\nEqually dangerous is the ice bag if applied to the inflamed brain or\nthe spinal column. Only too often it results either in paralysis or\nin death. In many instances, acute cerebrospinal meningitis is\nchanged in this way by drug and serum treatment or by the use of ice\nbags into the chronic, so-called incurable infantile paralysis.\n\nWe say so-called incurable because we have treated and cured such\ncases in all stages of development from the acute inflammatory\nmeningitis to the chronic paralysis of long standing.\n\nIn our treatment of acute diseases we never use ice or icy water for\npacks, compresses, baths or ablutions, but always water of ordinary\ntemperature as it comes from the faucet. The water compress or pack\nwarms up quickly, and thus brings about a natural reaction within a\nfew minutes, while the ice bag or pack continually chills and\npractically freezes the affected parts and organs. This does not\nallow the skin to relax; it prevents a warm reaction, the radiation\nof the body heat and the elimination of morbid matter through the\nskin.\n\nSuppression During the Fourth and\n\nFifth Stages of Inflammation\n\nLet us see what happens when acute diseases are suppressed during\nthe stages of abatement and reconstruction. If the defenders of the\nbody, the phagocyte and antitoxins, produced in the tissues and\norgans, gain the victory over the inimical forces which are\nthreatening the health and life of the organism, then the symptoms\nof inflammation, swelling, redness, heat, pain and the accelerated\nheart action which accompanies them, gradually subside. The debris\nof the battlefield is carried away through the venous circulation\nwhich forms the drainage system of the body.\n\nWhen in this way all morbid materials have been completely\neliminated, Vital Force, \"the physician within,\" will commence to\nregenerate and reconstruct the injured and destroyed cells and\ntissues.\n\nIf, however, these processes of elimination and reconstruction are\ninterfered with or interrupted before they are completed, then the\naffected parts and organs will not have a chance to become entirely\nwell or strong. They will remain in an abnormal, crippled condition,\nand their functional activity will be seriously handicapped.\n\nThe After-effects of Drug-Treated Typhoid Fever\n\nIn hundreds of cases I have told patients after a glance into their\neyes that they were suffering from chronic indigestion,\nmalassimi-lation and malnutrition caused by drug-treated typhoid\nfever; and every time the records in the eyes were confirmed by the\nhistory of the patient.\n\nIn such cases the outer rim of the iris shows a wreath of whitish or\ndrug-colored circular flakes. I have named this wreath \"the typhoid\nrosary.\" It corresponds to the lymphatic and other absorbent vessels\nin the intestines, and appears in the iris of the eye when these\nstructures have been injured or atrophied by drug, ice or surgical\ntreatment. Wherever this has been done, the venous and lymphatic\nvessels in the intestines do not absorb the food materials and these\npass through the digestive tract and out of the body without being\nproperly digested and assimilated.\n\nDuring the destructive stages of typhoid fever, the intestines\nbecome denuded by the sloughing of their membranous linings. These\nsloughed membranes give the stools of the typhoid fever patient\ntheir peculiar pea soup appearance. In a similar manner the\nlymphatic, venous and glandular structures which constitute the\nabsorbent vessels of the intestines atrophy and slough away.\n\nIf the inflammatory processes are allowed to run their normal course\nunder natural methods of treatment through the stages of\nDestruction, Absorption and Reconstruction, Nature will rebuild the\nmembranous and glandular structures of the intestinal canal\nperfectly, convalescence will be rapid and the patient will enjoy\nbetter health than before he contracted the disease.\n\nIf, however, through injudicious feeding or the administration of\nquinine, mercury, purging salts, opiates or other destructive\nagents, Nature's processes are interfered with, prematurely checked\nand suppressed, then the sloughed membranes and absorbent vessels\nare not reconstructed, and the intestinal tract is left in a denuded\nand atrophied condition.\n\nSuch a patient may arise from his bed thinking that he is cured; but\nunless he is afterward treated by natural methods, he will never\nmake a full recovery. It will take him, perhaps, months or years to\ndie a gradual, miserable death through malassimilation and\nmalnutrition, which usually end in some form of wasting disease,\nsuch as pernicious anemia or tuberculosis. If he does not actually\ndie from the effects of the wrongly treated typhoid fever, he will\nbe troubled all his life with intestinal indigestion, constipation,\nmalassimilation and the accompanying nervous disorders.\n\nA Change for the Better\n\nSpeaking of typhoid fever, we are glad to say that for this\nparticular form of disease the most advanced medical science has\nadopted the Nature Cure treatment, that is, straight cold water and\nfasting, and no drugs, as it was originated by the pioneers of\nNature Cure in Germany more than fifty years ago.\n\nThis treatment, which medical science has found so eminently\nsuccessful in typhoid fever, would prove equally efficacious in all\nother acute diseases if the regular doctors would only try it. It is\na strange and curious fact that so far they have never found it\nworth while to do so. All Nature Cure physicians know from their\ndaily experience in actual practice that the simple water treatment\nand fasting is sufficient to cure all other forms of acute diseases\njust as easily and effectively as typhoid fever. By this is proved\nthe unity of treatment in all acute diseases.\n\nBoth in typhoid fever and in tuberculosis, progressive medical men\nhave now entirely abandoned the germ-killing method of treatment.\nThey have found it absolutely useless and superfluous to hunt for\ndrugs and serums to kill the typhoid and tuberculosis bacilli in\nthese, the two most destructive diseases afflicting the human\nfamily. They were forced to admit that the simple remedies of the\nNature Cure school, cold water and fasting in typhoid fever and the\nfresh-air treatment in tuberculosis, are the only worthwhile methods\nto fight these formidable enemies to health and life.\n\nIf they would continue their researches and experiments along these\nnatural lines, they would attain infinitely more satisfactory\nresults than through their germ-hunting and germ-killing theories\nand practices.\n\n\n\nChapter IX\n\n\nThe Effects of Suppression of Venereal Diseases\n\n\nAnother good illustration of suppression may be found in the\nallopathic treatment of venereal diseases. Almost invariably the\ndrug treatment suppresses these diseases in the stages of incubation\nand aggravation, thus locking them up in the system. The venereal\ntaints and germs, however, are living things which grow and multiply\nuntil the body has been completely permeated by them. Then they must\nfind an outlet somehow and somewhere, and consequently they break\nout in the manifold so-called \"secondary\" and \"tertiary\" symptoms.\n\nThe drug poisons which are used to \"cure\" (suppress) these symptoms,\ngreatly aggravate the disease. They create conditions in the system\ninfinitely worse than the venereal diseases themselves. Thus the\nacute, easily curable stages of these ailments are changed into the\ndreadful and obstinate chronic conditions. It is in this way that\nvenereal diseases are made hereditary and transmitted to future\ngenerations.\n\nIn a special article on this subject entitled \"Venereal Diseases,\"\npublished in ~\"The Naturopath,\"~ January, 1913, I have substantiated\nthe following claims:\n\n\"Venereal diseases are not necessarily chronic in their progressive\ndevelopment. \"They are essentially acute and self-limited. But may\nbecome chronic through neglect or through suppressive drug\ntreatment. \"The chronic, so-called secondary and tertiary\nmanifestations of venereal diseases, such as ulceration of bones and\nfleshy tissue, gummata of the brain, sclerosis of the spinal cord,\narthritic rheumatism, degeneration and destruction of other vital\nparts and organs of the body, are not so much the result of the\noriginal gonorrheal or syphilitic infection, as of the destructive\ndrug poisons which have been taken to cure or rather to suppress the\nprimary lesions and acute inflammatory symptoms. \"Venereal diseases\nin the acute inflammatory stages are easily and completely curable\nby natural methods of living and of treatment. \"Venereal diseases\ntreated and cured by natural methods during the acute inflammatory\nstages are never followed by any chronic after-effects or secondary\nand tertiary manifestations whatsoever. \"When venereal diseases have\nreached the secondary and tertiary stages, they are still curable by\nnatural methods of living and of treatment, providing there is left\nsufficient vitality to respond to treatment and providing the\ndestruction of vital parts and organs has not advanced too far.\n\n\"Hundreds of cases of well-developed locomotor ataxy, paresis, and\nother so-called secondary and tertiary diseases of the brain and the\nnervous system, of bony and fleshy tissues, and of vital organs have\nbeen cured by our natural methods of treatment.\n\n\"It is self-evident, however, that the treatment and cure of the\nchronic conditions require more patience and perseverance than the\ncure of acute conditions not tampered with and suppressed by drugs.\n\"Venereal diseases treated and cured by natural methods are never\nfollowed by chronic after-effects. On the other hand, mercury,\niodine, quinine, and coal-tar poisons produce all the so-called\nsecondary and tertiary symptoms of syphilis in people who never in\ntheir lives were afflicted with venereal diseases, but who have\ntaken or absorbed these drug poisons in other ways.\n\n\". . . These facts are proven beyond doubt by the Diagnosis from the\nEye. All, destructive poisons taken in sufficient quantities will in\ntime reveal their presence and exact location in the body through\ncertain well-defined signs or discolorations in the iris.\n\n\"These poisons undermine the structures of the body and deteriorate\nvital parts and organs so slowly and insidiously that the\nsuperficial observer does not trace and connect cause and effect.\"\n\nThe Wasserman and Noguchi Tests\n\nMedical men may say to the foregoing that the Wasserman and Noguchi\ntests furnish positive proofs of syphilis in the system. These\nchemical tests are supposed to reveal with certainty the presence of\nvenereal taints in the body,--at least, the public is left under\nthis impression.\n\nI am convinced, however, that in many instances the \"positive\"\nWasserman or Noguchi tests are the result of mercurial poison\ninstead of syphilitic infection. In a number of cases where these\ntests proved \"positive,\" that is, where, according to the theory of\nallopathic medical science, they indicated a luetic condition of the\nsystem, the subjects of these tests had never in their lives shown\nany symptoms of syphilis nor, as far as they knew, had they ever\nbeen exposed to infection, but every one of them showed plainly the\nsign of mercurial poisoning in the iris of the eye, and had taken\nconsiderable mercury in the form of calomel or of other medicinal\npreparations for diseases not of a luetic nature, or they had been\n\"salivated\" by coming in contact with the mercurial poison in mines,\nsmelters, mirror factories, etc.\n\nThis leads me to believe that, sooner or later, medical science will\nhave to admit that the Wasserman and Noguchi tests reveal, in many\ninstances at least, the effects of mercurial poisoning instead of\nthe effects of syphilitic infection. And this would not be\nsurprising since it is well known that mercury has very similar\neffects upon the system as syphilis.\n\nIt takes the mercurial poison from five to ten and even fifteen\nyears before it works its way into the brain and spinal cord, and\nthere causes its characteristic degeneration and destruction of\nbrain and. nerve tissues which manifest outwardly as locomotor\nataxy, paralysis agitans, paresis, apoplexy, hemiplegia, epilepsy,\nSt. Vitus dance, and the different forms of idiocy and insanity.\nMercurial poisoning is also in many instances the cause of deafness\nand blindness.\n\nWhen the symptoms of mercurial destruction begin to show, then they,\nin turn, are suppressed by preparations of iodine, the \"606,\" or\nother \"alteratives,\" and so the merry war goes, on: poison against\npoison, Beelzebub against the Devil, and the poor suffering body has\nto stand it all.\n\nIn this way the system is periodically saturated with the most\nvirulent poisons on earth, until the undertaker finishes the job.\nAnd this is miscalled \"scientific treatment.\" There never was\ninvented by cruel Indian or fanatical inquisition worse torture than\nthis. They mercifully finished the sufferings of their victims\nwithin a few hours or, at the worst, days; but this torture\ninflicted upon human beings in the name of medical science continues\nfor a lifetime. It means dying by inches under the most horrible\nconditions for ten, twenty, thirty years or longer.\n\nIn this connection it may be well to quote the testimony of\nProfessor E. A. Farrington of Philadelphia, one of the most\ncelebrated homeopathic physicians of the nineteenth century. He\nsays, in his ~\"Clinical Materia Medica,\"~ third edition, page 141:\n\n\"The various constitutions or dyscrasia underlying chronic and acute\naffections are, indeed, very numerous. As yet, we do not know them\nall. We do know that one of them comes in gonorrhoea, a disease\nwhich is frightfully common, so that the constitution arising from\nthis disease is rapidly on the increase.\n\n\"Now I want to tell you why it is so. It is because allopathic\nphysicians, and many homeopaths as well, do not properly cure it. I\ndo not believe gonorrhoea to be a local disease. If it is not\nproperly cured, a constitutional poison which may be transmitted to\nthe children is developed. I know, from years of experience and\nobservation, that gonorrhoea is a serious difficulty, and one, too,\nthat complicates many cases that we have to treat.\n\n\"The same is true of syphilis in a modified degree. Gonorrhoea seems\nto attack the nobler tissues, the lungs, the heart, and the nervous\nsystem, all of which are reached by syphilis only after the lapse of\nyears.\"\n\nThe Destructive After-Effects of Mercury\n\nConcerning the destructive after-effects of mercury, of which\nhomeopaths have made a most careful study, Professor Farrington\nsays, on pages 558-559 of the same volume:\n\n\"The more remote symptoms of mercurial poisoning are these: You will\nfind that the blood becomes impoverished. The albumin and fibrin of\nthat fluid are affected. They are diminished, and you find in their\nplace a certain fatty substance, the composition of which I do not\nexactly know. Consequently, as a prominent symptom, the body wastes\nand emaciates. The patient suffers from fever which is rather hectic\nin its character. The periosteum becomes affected, and you then have\na characteristic group of mercurial pains, bone pains worse in\nchanges of the weather, worse in the warmth of the bed, and\nchilliness with or after stool. The skin becomes rather of a\nbrownish hue; ulcers form, particularly on the legs; they are\nstubborn and will not heal. The patient is troubled with\nsleeplessness and ebullitions of blood at night; he is hot and\ncannot sleep; he is thrown quickly into a perspiration, which\nperspiration gives him no relief.\n\n\"The entire system suffers also, and you have here two series of\nsymptoms. At first the patient becomes anxious and restless and\ncannot remain quiet; he changes his position; he moves about from\nplace to place; he seems to have a great deal of anxiety about the\nheart, praecordial anguish, as it is termed, particularly at night.\n\n\"Then, in another series of symptoms, there are jerkings of the\nlimbs, making the patient appear as though he were attacked by St.\nVitus' dance. Or, you may notice what is more common yet, trembling\nof the hands, this tremor being altogether beyond the control of the\npatient and gradually spreading over the entire body, giving you a\nresemblance to paralysis agitans or shaking palsy.\n\n\"Finally, the patient becomes paralyzed, cannot move his limbs, his\nmind becomes lost, and he presents a perfect picture of imbecility.\nHe does all sorts of queer things. He sits in the corner with an\nidiotic smile on his face, playing with straws; he is forgetful, he\ncannot remember even the most ordinary events. He becomes\ndisgustingly filthy and eats his own excrement. In fact, he is a\nperfect idiot.\n\n\"Be careful how you give mercury; it is a treacherous medicine. It\nseems often indicated. You give it and relieve; but your patient is\nworse again in a few weeks and then you give it again with relief.\nBy and by, it fails you. Now, if I want to make a permanent cure,\nfor instance, in a scrofulous child, I will very seldom give him\nmercury; should I do so, it will be at least only as an intercurrent\nremedy.\"\n\n\n\nChapter X\n\n\nSuppressive Surgical Treatment of Tonsillitis and Enlarged Adenoids\n\n\nThe following paragraphs are taken from an article in the ~Nature\nCure Magazine~ May, 1909, titled \"Surgery for Tonsillitis and\nAdenoids.\" They will throw further interesting light on the\ndangerous consequences of suppressing acute and subacute diseases.\n\n\"The tonsils are excreting glands. Nature has created them for the\nelimination of impurities from the body. Acute, subacute and chronic\ntonsillitis accompanied by enlargement and cheesy decay of the\ntonsils means that these glands have been habitually congested with\nmorbid matter and poisons, that they have had more work to do than\nthey could properly attend to.\n\n\"These glandular structures constitute a valuable part of the\ndrainage system of the organism. If the blood is poisoned through\novereating and faulty food combinations, or with scrofulous,\nvenereal or psoriatic poisons, the tonsils are called upon, along\nwith other organs, to eliminate these morbid taints. Is it any\nwonder that frequently they become inflamed and subject to decay?\nWhat, however, can be gained by destroying them with iodine or\nextirpating them with the surgeon's scissors or the 'guillotine'?\n\n\"Because your servants are weakened by overwork, would you kill\nthem? Because the drains in your house are too small to carry off\nthe waste, would you blockade or remove them? Still, this is the\northodox philosophy of the medical schools applied to the management\nof the human body.\n\n\". . . In case of any morbid discharge from the body, wherever it\nbe, whether through hemorrhoids, open sores, ulcers or through\ntonsils, scrofulous glands, etc., a fontanelle has been established\nto which and through which systemic poisons make their way. If such\nan outlet be blocked by medical or surgical treatment the stream of\nmorbid matter has to seek another escape or else the poisons will\naccumulate somewhere in the body.\n\n\"Fortunate is the patient when such an escape can be established,\nbecause wherever in the system morbid excretions, suppressed by\nmedical treatment, concentrate, there will inevitably be found the\nseat of chronic disease.\n\n\"After the tonsils have been removed, the morbid matter which they\nwere eliminating usually finds the nearest and easiest outlet\nthrough the adenoid tissues and nasal membranes. These now take up\nthe work of 'vicarious' elimination and, in their turn, become\nhyperactive and inflamed.\n\n\"Sometimes it happens that the adenoid tissues become affected\nbefore the tonsils. In that case, also, relief through the surgeon's\nknife is sought and then the process is reversed: after the adenoids\nhave been removed, the tonsils develop chronic catarrhal conditions.\n\n\"When both tonsils and adenoids have been removed, the nasal\nmembranes will, in turn, become congested and swollen. Often the\nmucous elimination increases to an alarming degree, and frequently\npolyps and other growths make their appearance or the turbinated\nbones soften and swell and obstruct the nasal passages, thus again\nmaking the patient a 'mouth breather.'\n\n\"But in vain does Nature protest against local symptomatic\ntreatment. Science has nothing to learn from her.\n\n\"When the nose takes up the work of vicarious elimination, the same\nmode of treatment is resorted to. The mucous membranes of the nose\nare now swabbed and sprayed with antiseptics and astringents, or\n'burned' by cauterizers, electricity, etc. The polyps are cut out,\nand frequently parts of the turbinated bone and septum as well, in\norder to open the air passages.\n\n\"Now, surely, the patient must be cured. But, strange to say, new\nand more serious troubles arise. The posterior nasal passages and\nthe throat are now affected by chronic catarrhal conditions and\nthere is much annoyance from phlegm and mucous discharges which drop\ninto the throat. These catarrhal conditions frequently extend to the\nmucous membranes of stomach and intestines.\n\n\"When the drainage system of the nose and the nasopharyngeal\ncavities has been completely destroyed, the impurities must either\ntravel upward into the brain or downward into the glandular\nstructures of the neck, thence into the bronchi and the tissues of\nthe lungs.\n\n\"If the trend be upward, to the brain, the patient grows nervous and\nirritable or becomes dull and apathetic. How often is a child\nreprimanded or even punished for laziness and inattention when it\ncannot help itself? In many instances the morbid matter affects\ncertain centers in the brain and causes nervous conditions,\nhysteria, St. Vitus' dance, epilepsy, etc. In children the\nimpurities frequently find an outlet through the eardrums in the\nform of pus-like discharges. This may frequently avert inflammation\nof the brain, meningitis, imbecility, insanity or infantile\nparalysis.\n\n\"If the trend of the suppressed impurities and poisons be downward,\nit often results in the hypertrophy and degeneration of the\nlymphatic glands of the neck. In such cases the suppressive\ntreatment, by drugs or knife, is again applied instead of\neliminative and curative measures. The scrofulous poisons,\nsuppressed and driven back from the diseased glands in the neck, now\nfind lodgment in the bronchi and lungs, where they accumulate and\nform a luxuriant soil for the growth of the bacilli of pneumonia and\ntuberculosis.\n\n\"In other cases, the vocal organs become seriously affected by\nchronic catarrhal conditions, abnormal growths and in later stages\nby tuberculosis. Many a fine voice has been ruined in this way.\n\n\"The prevention and the cure of all these ailments lie not in local\nsymptomatic treatment and suppression by drugs or knife, but in the\nrational and natural treatment of the body as a whole.\"\n\n\n\nChapter XI\n\n\nCancer\n\n\nLet us see how our theories of the Unity of Disease and Cure apply\nto cancer, the much-dreaded and rapidly increasing disease which is\nconsidered absolutely incurable by both the laity and the medical\nprofession.\n\nAllopathy says that the only possible remedy is \"early operation.\"\nNevertheless, in the textbooks of medical science and in medical\nschools and colleges it is taught that cancer and all other\nmalignant growths \"always return after extirpation.\" In fact, every\nstudent of medicine is expected to state this in his examination\npapers as part of the definition of malignant tumors.\n\nThe great majority of medical practitioners hold, furthermore, that\ncancer is a local disease. This is proved by the fact that they\napply local, symptomatic treatment.\n\nIn reality, however, the disease is constitutional. Therefore, after\nremoval of the growth by surgery, the electric needle, x-rays, etc.,\nthe cancer or tumor is liable to break out again in the same place\nor in several places.\n\nThe surest way to change insignificant, so-called \"benign\" (not\nfatal to life) fibroid or fatty tumors into malignant cancer or\nsarcoma is to operate upon them. Wens and warts are often made\nmalignant by surgical interference or other local irritation.\n\nIn my article titled \"What We Know About Cancer\" in the August,\n1909, issue of the ~Nature Cure Magazine~ I quote from an article by\nBurton J. Hendrick, the cancer expert, published in the July, 1909,\nnumber of ~McClure's Magazine,~ as follows:\n\n\"Clinical observation long ago established the fact that any\nirritating interference with a cancer almost always stimulates its\ngrowth. In his earliest experiments Dr. Loeb found that, by merely\ndrawing a silk thread through a dormant or slowly developing tumor,\nhe could transform it into a rapidly growing one. Cutting with a\nknife produced the same effect. This accounts for the commonly\nobserved fact that, when extirpated cancers in human beings recur,\nthey increase in size much more rapidly than the original growth.\"\n\nThe late Dr. Senn, the great cancer surgeon, admitted these facts in\nan interview given to Chicago press representatives upon his return\nfrom his trip around the world in 1906. The press clipping reads as\nfollows.\n\n\"Avoid Beauty Doctors\"\n\n\"Incidentally, Dr. Senn advises women who worry over their\ndisfigurement of moles about their heads and shoulders to have those\nso-called beauty spots removed early in life, but he tells them they\nshould not go to beauty doctors to have the operations performed.\n\n\"He knows of hundreds of cases, he says, where cancer has resulted\nfrom the irritation of moles by an electric needle, or by constant\npicking it. 'Have a surgeon cut the mole out,' is his advice, as it\nwill hurt little and leave no scar.\"\n\nTo this we answered in our comments on the interview: \"If the little\nknife of the beauty doctor causes cancer, what about the big knife\nof the surgeon?\"\n\nIn point of fact, our office records show that a large percentage of\nmalignant growths are the direct result of surgical operations.\n\nCancer Not a Local, But a Constitutional Disease\n\nFor many years I have been teaching in my lectures and writings as\nwell as in private advice to patients that cancer is a\nconstitutional disease; that it is rooted in every drop of blood in\nthe body; that it is caused by the presence of certain disease\ntaints or of food and drug poisons in the system; that these poisons\nirritate and stimulate the cells in a certain locality and cause\ntheir abnormal multiplication or proliferation in the forms of\nbenign or malignant tumors.\n\nI also claim that meat eating has much to do with the causation of\ncancer.\n\nCertain discoveries by Dr. H. C. Ross of London, England, confirm my\nclaims that cancer is not at all of local and accidental origin, but\nthat it is constitutional, and that it may be caused by the gradual\naccumulation in the system of certain poisons which form in decaying\nanimal matter.\n\nOne day, while experimenting in his laboratory, Dr. Ross brought\nwhite blood cells or leucocytes into contact with a certain aniline\ndye on the slide of a microscope and noticed that they began at once\nto multiply by cell division (proliferation). This was the first\ntime that cell proliferation had been observed by the human eye\nwhile the cells were separated from their parent organism.\n\nDr. Ross realized that he had made an important discovery and\ncontinued his experiments under the microscope in order to find out\nwhat other substances would cause cell multiplication. He found that\ncertain xanthines and albuminoids derived from decaying animal\nmatter were the most effective for this purpose and induced more\nrapid cell proliferation than any other substances he was able to\nprocure.\n\nDr. Ross obtained these \"alkaloids of putrefaction,\" as he called\nthem, from blood which had been allowed to putrefy in a warm place.\nHe found that albuminoids derived from decaying vegetable substances\ndid not have the same effect.\n\nHis discoveries led him to believe that the alkaloids of\nputrefaction produced in a cut or wound by the decaying of dead\nblood and tissue cells are the cause of the rapid multiplication of\nthe neighboring live cells, which gradually fill the wound with new\ntissues.\n\nThus, for the first time in the history of medicine, a rational\nexplanation of Nature's methods for repairing injured tissues has\nbeen advanced.\n\nDr. Ross applied his theory still farther to the causation of benign\nand malignant growths, reasoning that the alkaloids of putrefaction\nproduced in or attracted to a certain part of the body by some local\nirritation are the cause of the rapid, abnormal multiplication of\ncells in tumor formations.\n\nIn benign tumors the abnormal proliferation of cells takes place\nslowly, and they do not tend to immediate and rapid decay and\ndeterioration.\n\nIn malignant tumors the \"wild\" cells, created in immense numbers,\ndecay almost as rapidly as they are produced because the abnormal\ngrowths are devoid of normal organization. They have no established,\nregular blood and nerve supply, nor are they provided with adequate\nvenous drainage. They are, therefore, cut off from the orderly life\nof the organism and doomed to rapid deterioration.\n\nThe processes of decay of these tumor materials liberate large\nquantities of alkaloids of putrefaction, and these, in turn,\nstimulate the normal, healthy cells with which they come in contact\nto rapid, abnormal multiplication.\n\nThe malignant growth, therefore, feeds on its own products of decay,\naside from the systemic poisons and morbid materials already\ncontained in the blood and tissues of the body. These morbid\nproducts permeate the entire system. They are carried by the\ncirculation of the blood into all parts of the body. This explains\nwhy cancer is a constitutional disease, why it is, as I stated it,\n\"rooted in every drop of blood.\"\n\nIt also explains why cancer, or rather the disposition to its\ndevelopment (diathesis), is hereditary.\n\nIf the original cancerous growth is removed by surgical\nintervention, x-rays, the electric needle, cauterization or any\nother form of local treatment, the poisonous materials (alkaloids of\nputrefaction) in the blood will set up other foci of abnormal, wild\nproliferation. Medical science has applied the term metastasis to\nsuch spreading and reappearing of malignant tumors after\nextirpation.\n\nDr. Ross' findings throw an interesting light on the relationship\nbetween cancer and meat eating. Is it not self-evident that in a\ndigestive tract filled most of the time with large masses of\npartially digested and decaying animal food enormous quantities of\nalkaloids of putrefaction are created? These are absorbed into the\ncirculation, attracted to any point where exists some form of local\nirritation and then stimulate the cells in that locality to abnormal\nproliferation.\n\n\"But,\" it will be said, \"meat eating alone does not account for\ncancer, because vegetarians also succumb to the disease.\" This is\ntrue. Alkaloids of putrefaction are constantly produced in every\nanimal and human body. They form in the excretions of living cells\nand in the decaying protoplasm of dead cells, and if the organs of\nelimination do not function properly, these morbid materials will\naccumulate in the system.\n\nFurthermore, the Diagnosis from the Eye furnishes positive proof\nthat Hahnemann's theory of psora is based on truth. I quote from my\narticle in the ~Nature Cure Magazine~ August, 1909:\n\n\"For a hundred years, Hahnemann's theory of psora has been scouted\nand ridiculed by the allopathic schools and even among homeopaths\nonly a few have accepted it. Now we are confronted by the remarkable\nfact that, at this late day, the Diagnosis from the Eye confirms the\nobservations and speculations of the great genius of homeopathy.\n\n\"After suppression of itchy eruptions, lice, crab lice, etc., spots\nranging in color from light brown to dark red appear in different\nplaces in the iris of the eye. These 'itch spots' indicate the\norgans and localities of the body in which the suppressed disease\ntaints have concentrated.\n\n\"Such suppressions represent not only the scrofulous taints which\nNature was trying to eliminate by means of eruptions and parasites,\nbut, in addition to these, the poisons contained in the bodies of\nthe parasites and the drug poisons which were used to suppress or\nkill them.\n\n\"It has been found that the bodies of the itch parasites (~Sarcoptes\nscabici ~) contain an exceedingly poisonous substance which the\nhomeopaths call 'psorinum'. When these minute animals burrowing in\nand under the skin are killed by poisonous drugs and antiseptics,\nthe morbid taints in their bodies are absorbed by the system and\nadded to the psoriatic poisons which Nature has been trying to\neliminate.\n\n\"Thus, after suppression of itchy eruptions or parasites, the\norganism is encumbered with three poisons instead of one: (1) the\nhereditary or acquired scrofulous and psoriatic taints which the\ncells of the body were throwing off into the blood stream and which\nthe blood was feeding to the parasites on the surface, (2) the\nmorbid substance contained in the bodies of the parasites, (3) the\ndrug poisons used as suppressants. (Such poisons may lie latent in\nthe system for many years before they become active and, in\ncombination with other disease taints and with food and drug\npoisons, create the different forms of chronic destructive\ndiseases.)\n\n\"These facts explain why the itch spots in different areas of the\niris of the eye so frequently indicate serious chronic, destructive\ndisease conditions in the parts and organs of the body corresponding\nto these areas, why; for instance, in asthma and tuberculosis we\noften find itch spots in the region representing the lungs or why in\ncancer of the liver or of the stomach itch spots show in the area of\nstomach or liver.\n\n\"That the itch or psoriatic taint is actually at the bottom of the\ncancerous diathesis is attested by the fact that all cancer patients\nwhom we have treated and cured, with two exceptions (whose healing\ncrisis took the form of furunculosis), broke out with the itch at\none time or another during the natural treatment. In most of these\ncases the bodies of the patients were inflamed with fiery eruptions\nfor days or even weeks at a time.\n\n\"Nature Cure allows these healing crises to run their course\nunhindered and unchecked; in fact, we encourage them by air and sun\nbaths, cold-water treatment and homeopathic remedies.\"\n\nWhat has been said verifies my claim that benign and malignant\ntumors can be cured only by thorough purifying the system of all\nmorbid and poisonous taints and by building up the blood to a normal\nbasis, that is, by providing it with the proper elements of\nnutrition, especially with the all-important organic salts.\n\nThat this is not merely theory, but actual fact has been proved in\nthe great cancer institutes in Europe and in this country. The\nscientists in charge of these institutions report that they have\nfound a positive cure for cancer in animals. The treatment is as\nfollows:\n\nThe blood is pumped out of the body of a dog or other animal\nafflicted with cancer and immediately afterwards the blood of a\nhealthy animal which has shown immunity to cancer inoculation is\npumped into the body of the diseased animal. It is reported that in\nnine cases out of ten thus treated the cancerous growths disappear.\n\nThis treatment, of course, entails the death of the animal which had\nto give up its life blood to cure the other and therefore this\nmethod of cure is not adaptable to human beings. Even though an\nindividual, with suicidal intent, would be willing to give up his\nlife for a stipulated legacy to his relatives, the law would not\nsanction the transaction.\n\nHowever, we of the Nature Cure school say that it is not necessary\nto pump the diseased blood out of the organism. In the natural\nmethods of living and of treatment we possess the means of purifying\nand regenerating that blood while it is in the body. That this is\npossible we have proved in a number of cancer cases.\n\nIt is obvious, however, that the earlier the disease is treated by\nthe natural methods, that is, before the breaking-down process has\nfar advanced, the easier and quicker will be the cure.\n\nIn the case of tumors, then, we see again verified the fundamental\nlaw of Nature Cure: the Unity of Disease and of Treatment. We see\nthat the tumor is not of local, but of constitutional, origin, that\nits period of incubation may extend over a lifetime or over several\ngenerations.\n\n\nChapter XII\n\n\nWomen's Suffering\n\n\nCertain ailments peculiar to the female organism have become almost\nuniversal among civilized races. Probably the majority of surgical\noperations are performed for so-called women's diseases. That women\nsuffer untold agonies during menstruation, in childbirth and at the\nclimacteric is looked upon as unavoidable and a matter of course.\n\nThe fact that the native women of Africa, of the Sandwich Islands,\nthe South American bush and our western plains are practically\nexempt from these ailments indicates that the cause of female\ntroubles must lie in artificial habits of living and in the\nunnatural treatment of diseases.\n\nMany are beginning to recognize these truths. For them is dawning a\nnew era, when knowledge will free Woman from physical suffering as\nit has freed her from other bondage.\n\nInstances like the following are of common occurrence in our free\nclinics for Diagnosis from the Eye:\n\nA lady tells us that she has been suffering for many years from a\ncomplication of female troubles. Her eyes show a heavy scurf rim,\nindicating an inactive, atrophied skin, poor surface circulation\nand, as a result of this condition, defective elimination through\nthe skin and accumulation of waste matter and systemic poisons in\nthe system. The areas of stomach and intestines reveal the signs of\nchronic catarrhal affection and atrophy of the membranous linings\nand glandular structures. This, of course, means indigestion,\nfermentation of foods, gas formation, constipation and a multitude\nof resulting disturbances.\n\nThe signs in the iris also indicate an atonic, relaxed and prolapsed\ncondition of stomach, bowels and other abdominal organs. This is\nlikely to cause sagging of the genital organs, relaxation of the\nbands and ligaments which hold them in place and, as a result of\nthis relaxation, misplacement of the womb.\n\nWe tell the patient of our findings in her eyes and she admits all\nthe conditions and symptoms which we describe, but she is not\nsatisfied because our diagnosis does not agree with that of the\ngreat specialists and professors of medicine whom she has consulted.\nEvery one of them has told her that all her troubles are due to the\nfact that her uterus is flexed and retroverted, that it presses on\nthe rectum (this being the cause of her chronic constipation and of\nthe obstructed menstrual flow, the congestion, pain, etc.), and that\nthe womb must be placed in its normal position by a surgical\noperation.\n\nIn this and many similar cases that have come to us for treatment,\nit was the relaxed and prolapsed condition of the stomach and\nintestines that caused the sinking (prolapsus) of the uterus with\nthe attending distressing symptoms. In some instances the womb and\nwith it the bladder had fallen so low that they protruded from the\nvagina. In all of these cases, as the patients without exception\ntold us, the professors and specialists assured them that surgical\ntreatment, shortening of the ligaments, the insertion of pessaries,\nthe cutting loose and raising of the womb, etc., were the only\npossible means of curing these ailments.\n\nSo we explain to the lady that the relaxed and prolapsed condition\nof the genital organs, the misplacement of the womb, etc., are not\ncauses of disease, but only the effects of the weakened and relaxed\ncondition of the digestive organs, and that this, in turn, is due to\nindigestion, malnutrition, defective elimination through skin,\nbowels and kidneys; that, therefore, the only possibility of cure\nlies in correcting and overcoming these constitutional conditions\nthrough an eliminative diet, blood-building remedies and other\nnatural methods; that the blood must be built up on a normal basis,\nand that the digestive tract and the other abdominal organs must be\nmade more alive and active through hydropathic treatment, massage,\nspinal manipulation, general and special exercises, air and sun\nbaths, etc.\n\nIn thousands of cases we have thus cured female troubles without\npoisonous drugs or surgical operations, simply by improving the\ndigestion, purifying the blood and invigorating the abdominal organs\nin a natural manner.\n\nOn the other hand, almost daily we meet with instances of untold\nsuffering as the direct consequence of operations, the use of\npessaries, etc., which only served to weaken the genital organs\nstill more and resulted in all sorts of complications,\ninflammations, adhesions, etc., and in many cases in malignant\ntumors.\n\nIn this connection I would warn especially against the use of\npessaries. They are at best only a mechanical contrivance, and do\nnot add anything to the improvement of the diseased condition. On\nthe other hand, they irritate the abdominal organs by excessive\npressure, which in many instances produces inflammation of the\nneighboring tissues and abnormal growths.\n\nSuppressing inflammation of the genital organs by poisonous\nantiseptics, sprays, tampons or other local applications only tends\nto aggravate the chronic conditions. Curetting (scraping) the womb\ndoes not cure the catarrhal affection, but only serves to destroy\nits delicate mucous lining and to suppress catarrhal elimination.\nHolding up the womb by means of a pessary in order to strengthen its\nmuscles and ligaments is about as reasonable and effective as to try\nto strengthen a weak arm by carrying it in a sling. Replacing or\nremoving misplaced or affected organs by means of surgery does not\ncontribute anything toward correcting the causes of these abnormal\nconditions, but in many instances makes a real cure impossible. How\ncan an organ be cured after it has been extirpated with the knife?\n\nIt is a fact known to every observing physician that from fifty to\nseventy-five percent of all women have some kind of misplacement of\nthe genital organs and that only a comparatively small number of\nthese suffer from local disturbances, indicating that, in most\ncases, misplacement alone will not create serious trouble.\n\nIt is ridiculous to assume that the small, flabby uterus of an\nanemic woman can block the rectum and cause disease, but it is an\nexcellent talking point, as effective in bringing victims to the\noperating table as appendicitis with its fairy tales of seeds and\nforeign bodies lodging in the appendix vermiformis.\n\nWhile studying Nature Cure in Germany, I took special courses in the\nThure-Brandt Massage. By means of this internal manipulative\ntreatment, weakness of ligaments and muscles, displacements,\nadhesions, etc., can be corrected without the use of knife or drugs.\nDuring my first years in practice, I frequently resorted to the\ninternal manual treatment with good results; but I found that in\nmost cases it was not at all necessary in order to produce perfect\ncures.\n\nI saw that chiropractic and osteopathic correction of spinal and\npelvic lesions and consequent removal of irritation and pressure on\nthe nerves, the cure of chronic constipation and malnutrition by\npure food diet and hydrotherapy, the strengthening of the pelvic\nmuscles and nerves by means of active and passive movements and\nexercises, were fully sufficient to correct the local symptoms in a\nnatural manner. Thousands of cases cured by us by these methods\nattest the truth of our statements; while those who failed to\nunderstand the simple reasoning of the Nature Cure philosophy or\nlacked will power to withstand the arguments of friends and\nphysicians followed the siren call of the operating table and have\nbeen sorry for it ever since.\n\nIn case of operation for misplacement of the womb, it is necessary,\nin order to keep the womb in its new position, to stitch it to the\nfrontal abdominal wall. Very frequently it will not stay there,\nbreaks loose, and relapses into an abnormal position. Granted that\nit remains fixed, woe to the woman if she becomes pregnant. The womb\ncannot assume the constantly changing positions of pregnancy, and\nthe result is either abortion or malformation of the fetus, together\nwith great and constant suffering to the woman.\n\nThe operation has done nothing to correct unnatural habits of living\nor to purify the system of its scrofulous and psoriatic taints, of\ndrug and food poisons. Frequently these gather in the parts that\nhave been weakened and irritated by the antiseptics and by the\nsurgeon's knife, and set up new inflammations, ulcerations and only\ntoo often malignant tumors. As a result, one operation follows\nanother.\n\nWe cannot cut in the genital organs without cutting in the brain.\nThe nervous system is a unit, and the brain is directly and\nintimately connected with the complex and highly sensitive nerve\ncenters of the genital organs. Mutilation of the genital nerve\ncenters, therefore, invariably affects the brain, and thus the\nintellectual and emotional life of a woman. It is almost axiomatic\nthat a woman whose uterus or ovaries have been removed or mutilated\nis afterward mentally and emotionally more or less abnormal.\nNervousness, irritability and only too often nervous prostration and\ninsanity are the sequelae of operative treatment.\n\nIn medical colleges, among students and professors, these facts are\nfreely admitted and discussed, but the prospective patient hears a\ndifferent story. \"Cut loose the womb, shorten the ligaments, put it\ninto the right position, and everything will be well.\" This sounds\nplausible and seductive; but everyday experiences expose the\ninadequacy and the destructive aftereffects of local symptomatic\ntreatment.\n\nThe Climacteric or Change of Life\n\nUnder our artificial methods of living, the ~climacteric~ or change\nof life, has become the bugbear of womanhood. It seems to be\nuniversally assumed that this period in a woman's life must be\nfraught with manifold sufferings and dangers. It is taken as a\nmatter of course that during these changes in her organism a woman\nis assailed by the most serious physical, mental, and psychic\nailments which may endanger her sanity and often her life.\n\nLike rheumatism, neurasthenia, neuralgia and hundreds of other\nmedical terms, \"change of life\" is a convenient phrase to cover the\ndoctor's ignorance. No matter what ailments befall a woman during\nthe years from forty to fifty, may the causes be ever so obscure,\nthe diagnosis is easy. \"You are in the climacteric, you are\nsuffering from the change of life,\" says the doctor, and the patient\nis satisfied and resigns herself to the inevitable.\n\nFrequently women come to us for consultation, and after reciting a\nlong string of troubles they conclude with the remark: \"Of course,\ndoctor, I'm in the change, and I know that lots of these things are\nnatural at my time of life.\"\n\nIs it true that all this suffering is natural and inevitable? Among\nthe primitive races of the earth suffering incident to the change of\nlife is practically unknown. The same is true in a lesser degree of\nthe country population of Europe. The causes of it must, therefore,\nbe sought in the artificial modes of living peculiar to our\nhypercivilization and in the unnatural methods of treating disease\nas commonly practiced.\n\nWhich are the specific causes of the profound disturbances so often\naccompanying the organic changes of the climacteric?\n\nAside from their other physiological functions, the menses are for\nthe woman a monthly cleansing crisis through which Nature eliminates\nfrom her system considerable amounts of waste and morbid matter\nwhich, under a natural regime of life, would be discharged by means\nof the organs of depuration, that is, the lungs, skin, kidneys and\nbowels.\n\nThe more natural the life and the more normal, as the result of\nthis, the woman's physical condition, the shorter and less annoying\nand painful, within certain limits, will be the menstrual periods.\n\nThrough unnatural habits of eating, drinking, dressing, breathing\nand through equally unnatural methods of medical treatment, the\nkidneys, skin and bowels have become inactive, benumbed or\nparalyzed. As long as the vicarious monthly purification by means of\nthe menses continues, the evil results of the torpid condition of\nthe regular organs of depuration do not become so apparent. The\norganism has learned to adapt itself to this mode of elimination.\n\nBut when, on account of the organic changes of the climacteric,\nmenstruation ceases, then the systemic poisons, which formerly were\neliminated by means of this monthly purification, accumulate in the\nsystem and become the source of all manner of trouble. All\ntendencies to physical, mental or psychic disease are greatly\nintensified. The poisonous taints circulating in the blood\noverstimulate or else depress and paralyze the brain and the nervous\nsystem. As a consequence, mental and psychic disorders are of common\noccurrence; the more so because the waning of the sex functions is\naccompanied by a tendency to negativity and hypersensitiveness.\n\nHow Can the Ailments of the Climacteric Be Avoided or Cured?\n\nIs it not self-evident that the easiest way to sidestep the troubles\nincident to this critical period and to reestablish the perfect\nequilibrium of the organism lies in restoring the natural activity\nof the organs of elimination?\n\nThis is what Nature Cure accomplishes easily and successfully with\nits natural methods of treatment. Air and sun baths, water\ntreatments and massage bring new life and activity to the enervated\nskin. Pure food diet, chiropractic and osteopathic treatment,\ncurative gymnastics, homeopathic or herb remedies restore the\nnatural tonicity and functioning of the stomach, liver, kidneys and\nintestines. Mental therapeutics, systematically practiced, make\nevery cell in the body vibrant with the higher and finer forces of\nthe mental and spiritual planes of being.\n\nWhen the natural equilibrium of the organism is thus restored, there\nis absolutely no occasion for the troubles of the climacteric. We\nhave proved this in hundreds of cases. As kidneys, skin and bowels\nbegin to function normally and freely, physical and mental\nconditions commence to improve, and one after another the dreaded\nsymptoms disappear.\n\nLet us compare with this common sense, natural treatment the\northodox medical practice in such cases:\n\nThe medical treatment, as usual, is entirely symptomatic. The\nsluggish organs of elimination are prodded by poisonous cathartics,\nlaxatives, diaphoretics, cholagogues and tonics, all of which, after\ntemporary stimulation, leave the organs in a more weakened and the\nsystem in a more poisoned condition. If brain and nerves are\nirritated and aching, sedatives and hypnotics are given to stupefy\nthem into insensibility. If the heart action is weak and irregular,\nit is whipped up by poisonous stimulants; if too fast, it is checked\nand paralyzed by sedatives and depressants.\n\nThus, instead of removing the underlying causes, every symptom is\npromptly suppressed. Drug poisons are added to the waste and morbid\nmatter which are already clogging the channels of life. And, of\ncourse, under such unnatural treatment, in many instances things go\nfrom bad to worse. Flushes, headaches, rheumatic and neuralgic\npains, melancholia, irritability, mental aberration, partial\nparalysis and a multitude of other symptoms appear and gradually\nincrease in severity.\n\nWhen the family physician has arrived at the end of his wits, the\nsurgeon has his innings, and leaves the patient in a still worse\ncondition of chronic suffering.\n\nThese experiences are so common that the manifold troubles of the\nclimacteric are regarded as unavoidable and as a matter of course.\nHere, as in so many other instances, people fail to see that it is\nthe treatment which prevents the cure. If the efficiency of common\nsense, natural treatment were more widely known and recognized, how\nmuch unnecessary suffering could be avoided.\n\n\n\nChapter XIII\n\n\nThe Treatment of Acute Diseases by Natural Methods\n\n\nIn the preceding chapters we have described the results of the\nwrong, that is, suppressive treatment of acute diseases. We shall\nnow proceed to describe the simple and uniform methods of natural\ntreatment.\n\nIf the uniformity of acute diseases be a fact in Nature, then it\nfollows that it must be possible to treat all acute diseases by\nuniform methods.\n\nThat it is possible to treat all acute diseases most successfully by\nnatural methods, which anybody possessed of ordinary intelligence\ncan apply, has been demonstrated for more than seventy years by the\nNature Cure practitioners in Germany, and by myself during the last\nten years in an extensive practice.\n\nOne of the many advantages of natural treatment is that it may be\napplied right from the beginning, as soon as the first symptoms of\nacute febrile conditions manifest themselves. It is not necessary to\nwait for a correct diagnosis of the case.\n\nThe regular physician, with his specific treatment for the multitude\nof specific diseases which he recognizes, often has to wait several\ndays or even weeks before the real nature of the disease becomes\nclear to him, before he is able to diagnose the case or even to make\na good guess. The conscientious medical practitioner has to postpone\nactual treatment until the symptoms are well defined. Meanwhile he\napplies expectant treatment as it is called in medical parlance,\nthat is, he gives a purgative or a placebo, something or other to\nplacate, or to make the patient and his friends believe that\nsomething is being done.\n\nBut during this period of indecision and inaction very often the\nbest opportunity for aiding Nature in her healing efforts is lost,\nand the inflammatory processes may reach such virulence that it\nbecomes very difficult or even impossible to keep them within\nconstructive limits. The bonfire that was to burn up the rubbish on\nthe premises may, if not watched and tended, assume such proportions\nthat it damages or destroys the house.\n\nIt must also be borne in mind that very frequently acute diseases do\nnot present the well-defined sets of symptoms which fit into the\naccepted medical conception of certain specific ailments. On the\ncontrary, in many instances the symptoms suggest a combination of\ndifferent forms of acute diseases.\n\nIf the character of the disease is ill-defined and complicated, how,\nthen, is the physician of the \"Old School\" to select the proper\nspecific remedy, Under such circumstances, the diagnosis of the case\nas well as the medical treatment will at best be largely guesswork.\n\nCompare with this unreliable and unsatisfactory treatment the simple\nand scientific, exact and efficient natural methods. The natural\nremedies can be applied from the first, at the slightest\nmanifestation of inflammatory and febrile symptoms. No matter what\nthe specific nature or trend of the inflammatory process, whether it\nbe a simple cold, or whether it take the form of measles, scarlet\nfever, diphtheria, smallpox, appendicitis, etc.--it makes absolutely\nno difference in the mode of treatment. In many instances the\nnatural treatment will have broken the virulence of the attack or\nbrought about a cure before the regular physician gets good and\nready to apply his specific treatment.\n\nIn the following I shall describe briefly these natural methods for\nthe treatment of acute diseases which insure the largest possible\npercentage of recoveries and at the same time do not in any way tax\nthe system, cause undesirable aftereffects or lead to the different\nforms of chronic invalidism.\n\nThe Natural Remedies\n\nThe most important ones of these natural remedies can be had free of\ncost in any home. They are: air, fasting or eliminative diets,\nwater, and the right mental attitude.\n\nI am fully convinced that these remedies offered freely by Mother\nNature are sufficient, if rightly applied, to cure any acute disease\narising within the organism. If circumstances permit, however, we\nmay advantageously add corrective manipulation of the spine,\nmassage, magnetic treatment, advanced regenerative modalities (like\nthe Magnatherm) and homeopathic, herbal and specific nutritional\nsupplementation.\n\nThe Fresh-Air Treatment\n\nA plentiful supply of pure fresh air is of vital importance at any\ntime. We can live without food for several weeks and without water\nfor several days, but we cannot live without air for more than a few\nminutes. Just as a fire in the furnace cannot be kept up without a\ngood draft which supplies the necessary amount of oxygen to the\nflame, so the fires of life in the body cannot be maintained without\nan abundance of oxygen in the air we breathe.\n\nThis is of vital importance at all times, but especially so in acute\ndisease, because here, as we have learned, all the vital processes\nare intensified. The system is working under high pressure. Large\nquantities of waste and morbid materials, the products of\ninflam-mation, have to be oxidized, that is, burned up and\neliminated from the system.\n\nIn this respect the Nature Cure people have brought about one of the\ngreatest reforms in medical treatment: the admission of plenty of\nfresh air to the sickroom.\n\nBut, strange to say, the importance of this most essential natural\nremedy is as yet not universally recognized by the representatives\nof the regular school of medicine. Time and again I have been called\nto sickrooms where by order of the doctor every window was closed\nand the room filled with pestilential odors, the poisonous\nexhalations of the diseased organism added to the stale air of the\nunventilated and often overheated apartment. And this air starvation\nhad been enforced by graduates of our best medical schools and\ncolleges. This unnatural and inexcusable crime against the sick is\ncommitted even at this late day in our great hospitals under the\ndirect supervision of physicians who are foremost in their\nprofession.\n\nIt is not the cold draft that is to be feared in the sickroom. Cool\nair is most agreeable and beneficial to the body burning in fever\nheat. What is to be feared is the reinhalation and reabsorption of\npoisonous emanations from the lungs and skin of the diseased body.\n\nFurthermore, the ventilation of a room can be so regulated as to\nprovide a constant and plentiful supply of fresh air without\nexpos-ing its occupants to a direct draft. Where there is only one\nwindow and one door, both may be opened and a sheet or blanket hung\nacross the opening of the door, or the single window may be opened\npartly from above and partly from below, which insures the entrance\nof fresh, cold air at the bottom and the expulsion of the heated and\nvitiated air at the top. The patient may be protected by a screen,\nor a board may be placed across the lower part of the window in such\nmanner that a direct current of air upon the patient is prevented.\n\nIn very cold weather, or if conditions are not favorable to constant\nventilation of the sickroom, the doors and windows may be opened\nwide for several minutes every few hours, while the patient's body\nand head are well protected. There is absolutely no danger of taking\ncold if these precautions are taken. Under right conditions of room\ntemperature, frequent exposure of the patient's nude body to air and\nthe sunlight will be found most beneficial and will often induce\nsleep when other means fail.\n\nI would strongly warn against keeping the patient too warm. This is\nespecially dangerous in the case of young children, who cannot use\ntheir own judgment or make their wishes known. I have frequently\nfound children in high fever smothered in heavy blankets under the\nmistaken impression on the part of the attendants that they had to\nbe kept warm and protected against possible draft. In many instances\nthe air under the covers was actually steaming hot. This surely does\nnot tend to reduce the burning fever heat in the body of the\npatient.\n\n\"Natural Diet\" in Acute Diseases\n\nFrom the appearance of the first suspicious symptoms until the fever\nhas abated and there is a hearty, natural hunger, feeding should be\nreduced to a minimum or better still, entirely suspended.\n\nIn cases of extreme weakness, and where the acute and subacute\nprocesses are long drawn out and the patient has become greatly\nemaciated, it is advisable to give such easily digestible foods as\nwhite of egg, milk, buttermilk and whole grain bread with butter in\ncombination with raw and stewed fruits and with vegetable salads\nprepared with lemon juice and olive oil.\n\nThe quantity of drinking water should be regulated by the desire of\nthe patient, but he should be warned not to take any more than is\nnecessary to satisfy his thirst. Large amounts of water taken into\nthe system dilute the blood and the other fluids and secretions of\nthe organism to an excessive degree, and this tends to increase the\ngeneral weakness and lower the patient's resistance to the disease\nforces.\n\nWater may be made more palatable and at the same time more effective\nfor purposes of elimination by the addition of the unsweetened juice\nof acid fruits, such as orange, grapefruit or lemon, about one part\nof juice to three parts of water. Fresh pineapple juice is very good\nexcept in cases of hyperacidity of the stomach. The fresh,\nunsweetened juice of Concord grapes is also beneficial.\n\nAcid and subacid fruit juices do not contain sufficient carbohydrate\nor protein materials to unduly excite the digestive processes, while\non the other hand they are very rich in Nature's best medicines, the\nmineral salts in organic form. Sweet grapes and sweetened grape\njuice should not be given to patients suffering from acute, febrile\ndiseases because they contain too much sugar, which would have a\ntendency to start the processes of digestion and assimilation, to\ncause morbid fermentation and to raise the temperature and\naccelerate the other disease symptoms.\n\nFasting\n\nTotal abstinence from food during acute febrile conditions is of\nprimary importance. In certain diseases which will be mentioned\nlater on, especially those involving the digestive tract, fasting\nmust be continued for several days after all fever symptoms have\ndisappeared.\n\nThere is no greater fallacy than that the patient must be sustained\nand his strength kept up by plenty of nourishing food and drink or,\nworse still, by stimulants and tonics. This is altogether wrong in\nitself, and besides, habit and appetite are often mistaken for\nhunger.\n\nA common spectacle witnessed at the bedside of the sick is that of\nwell-meaning but misguided relatives and friends forcing food and\ndrink on the patient, often by order of the doctor, when his whole\nsystem rebels against it and the nauseated stomach expels the food\nas soon as taken. Sedatives and tonics are then resorted to in order\nto force the digestive organs into submission.\n\nAversion to eating during acute diseases, whether they represent\nhealing crises or disease crises, is perfectly natural, because the\nentire organism, including the mucous membranes of stomach and\nintestines, is engaged in the work of elimination, not assimilation.\nNausea, slimy and fetid discharges, constipation alternating with\ndiarrhea, etc., indicate that the organs of digestion are throwing\noff disease matter, and that they are not in a condition to take up\nand assimilate food.\n\nOrdinarily, the digestive tract acts like a sponge which absorbs the\nelements of nutrition; but in acute diseases the process is\nreversed, the sponge is being squeezed and gives off large\nquantities of morbid matter. The processes of digestion and\nassimilation are at a standstill. In fact, the entire organism is in\na condition of prostration, weakness and inactivity. The vital\nenergies are concentrated on the cleansing and healing processes.\nAccordingly, there is no demand for food.\n\nThis is verified by the fact that a person fasting for a certain\nperiod, say, four weeks, during the course of a serious acute\nillness, will not lose nearly as much in weight as the same person\nfasting four weeks in days of healthful activity.\n\nIt is for the foregoing reasons that nourishment taken during acute\ndisease is not properly digested, assimilated and transmuted into healthy\nblood and tissues. Instead, it ferments and decays, filling the\nsystem with waste matter and noxious gases. interferes seriously\nwith the elimination of morbid matter through stomach and intestines\nby forcing these organs to take up the work of digestion and\nassimilation. diverts the vital forces from their combat against the\ndisease conditions and draws upon them to remove the worse than\nuseless food ballast from the organism.\n\nThis explains why taking food during feverish diseases is usually\nfollowed by a rise in temperature and by aggravation of the other\ndisease symptoms. As long as there are signs of inflammatory,\nfebrile conditions and no appetite, do not be afraid to withhold\nfood entirely, if necessary, for as long as five, six or seven\nweeks. In my practice I have had several patients who did not take\nany food, except water to which acid fruit juices had been added,\nfor more than seven weeks, and then made a rapid and complete\nrecovery.\n\nIn cases of gastritis, appendicitis, peritonitis, dysentery or\ntyphoid fever, abstinence from food is absolutely imperative. Not\neven milk should be taken until fever and inflammation have entirely\nsubsided, and then a few days should be allowed for the healing and\nrestoring of the injured tissues. Many of the serious chronic\naftereffects of these diseases are due to too early feeding, which\ndoes not allow the healing forces of Nature time to rebuild sloughed\nmembranes and injured organs.\n\nAfter a prolonged fast, great care must be observed when commencing\nto eat. Very small quantities of light food may safely be taken at\nintervals of a few hours. A good plan, especially after an attack of\ntyphoid fever or dysentery, is to break the fast by thoroughly\nmasticating one or two tablespoonfuls of popcorn. This gives the\ndigestive tract a good scouring and starts the peristaltic action of\nthe bowels better than any other food.\n\nThe popcorn may advantageously be followed in about two hours with a\ntablespoonful of cooked rice and one or two cooked prunes or a small\nquantity of some other stewed fruit.\n\nFor several days or weeks after a fast, according to the severity of\nthe acute disease or healing crisis, a diet consisting largely of\nraw fruits, such as oranges, grapefruit, apples, pears, grapes,\netc., and juicy vegetables, especially lettuce, celery, cabbage\nslaw, watercress, young onions, tomatoes or cucumbers should be\nadhered to. No condiments or dressings should be used with the\nvegetables except lemon juice and olive oil.\n\nHydropathic Treatment in Acute Diseases\n\nWe claim that in acute diseases hydropathic treatment will\naccomplish all the benefcial effects which the \"Old School\"\npractitioners ascribe to drugs, and that water applications will\nproduce the desired results much more efficiently, and without any\nharmful by-effects or aftereffects upon the system.\n\nThe principal objects to be attained in the treatment of acute\ninflammatory diseases are:\n\nTo relieve the inner congestion and consequent pain in the affected\nparts. To keep the temperature below the danger point by promoting\nheat radiation through the skin. To increase the activity of the\norgans of elimination and thus to facilitate the removal of morbid\nmaterials from the system. To increase the positive electromagnetic\nenergies in the organism. To increase the amount of oxygen and ozone\nin the system and thereby to promote the oxidation and combustion of\neffete matter.\n\nThe above-mentioned objects can be attained most effectually by the\nsimple cold water treatment. Whatever the acute condition may be,\nwhether an ordinary cold or the most serious type of febrile\ndisease, the applications described in detail in the following\npages, used singly, combined or alternately according to individual\nconditions, will always be in order and sufficient to produce the\nbest possible results.\n\nBaths and Ablutions\n\nCooling sprays or, if the patient is too weak to leave the bed, cold\nsponge baths or ablutions, repeated whenever the temperature rises,\nare very effective for keeping the fever below the danger point, for\nrelieving the congestion in the interior of the body and for\nstimulating the elimination of systemic poisons through the skin.\n\nHowever, care must be taken not to lower the temperature too much by\nthe excessive coldness or unduly prolonged duration of the\napplication. It is possible to suppress inflammatory processes by\nmeans of cold water or ice bags just as easily as with poisonous\nantiseptics, antifever medicines and surgical operations.\n\nIt is sufficient to reduce the temperature to just below the danger\npoint. This will allow the inflammatory processes to run their\nnatural course through the five progressive stages of inflammation\nand this natural course will then be followed by perfect\nregeneration of the affected parts.\n\nIn our sanitarium we use only water of ordinary temperature as it\nflows from the faucet, never under any circumstances ice bags or ice\nwater. The application of ice keeps the parts to which it is applied\nin a chilled condition. The circulation cannot react, and the\ninflammatory processes are thus most effectually suppressed.\n\nTo recapitulate: Never check or suppress a fever by means of cold\nbaths, ablutions, wet packs, etc., but merely lower it below the\ndanger point. For instance, if a certain type of fever has a\ntendency to rise to 104 degree F. or more, bring it down to about\n102 degree. If the fever ordinarily runs at a lower temperature, say\nat 102 degree F., do not try to reduce it more than one or two\ndegrees.\n\nIf the temperature is subnormal, that is, below the normal or\nregular body temperature, the packs should be applied in such a\nmanner that a warming effect is produced, that is, less wet cloths\nand more dry covering should be used, and the packs left on the body\na longer time before they are renewed. More detailed instruction\nwill be given in subsequent pages.\n\nNever lose sight of the fact that fever is in itself a healing,\ncleansing process which must not be checked or suppressed.\n\nHot-Water Applications Are Injurious\n\nAltogether wrong is the application of hot water to seats of\ninflammation as, for instance, the inflamed appendix or ovaries,\nsprains, bruises, etc. Almost in every instance where I am called in\nto attend a case of acute appendicitis or peritonitis, I find hot\ncompresses or hot water bottles, by means of which the inflamed\nparts are kept continually in an overheated condition. It is in this\nway that a simple inflammation is nurtured into an abscess and made\nmore serious and dangerous.\n\nThe hot compress or hot-water bottle draws the blood away from the\ninflamed area to the surface temporarily; but unless the hot\napplication is kept up continually, the blood, under the Law of\nAction and Reaction, will recede from the surface into the interior,\nand as a result the inner congestion will become as great as or\ngreater than before.\n\nIf the hot applications are continued, the applied heat tends to\nmaintain and increase the heat in the inflamed parts.\n\nInflammation means that there is already too much heat in the\naffected part or organ. Common sense, therefore, would dictate\ncooling applications instead of heating ones.\n\nThe cold packs and compresses, on the other hand, have a directly\ncooling effect upon the seat of inflammation and in accordance with\nthe Law of Action and Reaction their secondary, lasting effect\nconsists in drawing the blood from the congested and heated interior\nto the surface, thus relaxing the pores of the skin and promoting\nthe radiation of heat and the elimination of impurities.\n\nBoth the hot-water applications and the use of ice are, therefore,\nto be absolutely condemned. The only rational and natural treatment\nof inflammatory conditions is that by compresses, packs and\nablutions, using water of ordinary temperature, as it comes from the\ncold water tap.\n\nBy means of the simple cold-water treatment and fasting all fevers\nand inflammations can be reduced in a perfectly natural way within a\nshort time without undue strain on the organism.\n\nThe Whole-Body Pack\n\nThe whole-body pack is most effective if by means of it the patient\ncan be brought into a state of copious perspiration. The pack is\nthen removed and the patient is given a cold sponge bath.\n\nIt will be found that this treatment often produces a second profuse\nsweat which is very beneficial. This aftersweat should also be\nfollowed by a cold sponge bath.\n\nSuch a course of treatment will frequently be sufficient to\neliminate the morbid matter which has gathered in the system, and\nthus prevent in a perfectly natural manner a threatening disease\nwhich otherwise might become dangerous to life.\n\nHow to Apply the Whole-Body Pack\n\nOn a bed or cot spread two or more blankets, according to their\nweight. Over the top blanket spread a linen or cotton sheet which\nhas been dipped into cold water and wrung out fairly dry. Let the\nblankets extend about one foot beyond the wet sheet at the head of\nthe bed.\n\nPlace the patient on the wet sheet so that it comes well up to the\nneck, and wrap the sheet snugly around the body so that it covers\nevery part, tucking it in between the arms and sides and between the\nlegs. It will be found that the sheet can be adjusted more snugly\nand smoothly if separate strips of wet linen are placed between the\nlegs and between the arms and the sides of the body.\n\nThe blankets are now folded, one by one, upward over the feet and\naround the body, turned in at the neck and brought across the chest,\nthe outer layers being held in place with safety pins.\n\nThe patient should stay in this whole-body pack from one-half hour\nto two hours, according to the object to be attained and the\nreaction of the body to the pack. If the pack has been correctly\napplied, the patient will become warm in a few minutes.\n\nThe Bed-Sweat Bath\n\nIf the patient does not react to the pack, that is, if he remains\ncold, or if, as is sometimes the case in malaria, the fever is\naccompanied by chills or if profuse perspiration is desired, bottles\nfilled with hot water or bricks heated in the oven and wrapped in\nflannel should be placed along the sides and to the feet, under the\noutside covering.\n\nThis form of application is called the bed-sweat bath. It may be\nused with good results when an incipient cold is to be aborted.\n\nAfter the pack has been removed, the body should be sponged with\ncold water, as already stated. Use a coarse cloth or Turkish towel\nfor this purpose rather than a sponge, as the latter cannot be kept\nperfectly clean. Dry the body quickly but thoroughly, and finish by\nrubbing with the hands.\n\nIn the meantime the damp bed clothing should be replaced by dry\nsheets and blankets (a second cot or bed will be found a great\nconvenience), and the patient put to bed without delay and well\ncovered in order to prevent chilling and also to induce, if\npossible, a copious aftersweat. The patient is then sponged off a\nsecond time, put into a dry bed, and allowed to rest.\n\nIf the patient is too weak to leave his bed, the cold sponge may be\ngiven on a large rubber sheet or oilcloth covered with an old\nblanket, which should be placed on the bed before the pack is\napplied. After removing the pack, put a blanket over the patient to\nprevent chilling and wash quickly but thoroughly first the limbs,\nthen chest and stomach, then the back, drying and covering each part\nas soon as finished. Remove the rubber sheet from the bed and wrap\nthe patient in dry, warm blankets, or lift him into another bed.\n\nHow to Apply the Short-Body Pack\n\nA wide strip of linen or muslin, wrung out of cold water, is wrapped\naround the patient from under the armpits to the thighs or knees in\none, two or more layers, covered by one or more layers of dry\nflannel or muslin in such a manner that the wet linen does not\nprotrude at any place.\n\nSimilar packs may be applied to the throat,* the arms, legs,\nshoulder joints or any other part of the body.\n\nThe number of layers of wet linen and dry covering is determined by\nthe vitality of the patient, the height of his temperature and the\nparticular object of the application, which may be to lower high\ntemperature to raise the temperature when subnormal to relieve\ninner congestion to promote elimination.\n\nIf the object is to lower high temperature, several layers of wet\nlinen should be wrapped around the body and covered loosely by one\nor two layers of the dry wrappings in order to prevent the bed from\ngetting wet. The packs must be renewed as soon as they become dry or\nuncomfortably hot.\n\nIf the object is to raise subnormal temperature, less wet linen and\nmore dry covering must be used, and the packs left on a longer time,\nsay from thirty minutes to two hours. If the patient does not react\nto the pack, hot bricks or bottles filled with hot water should be\nplaced at the sides and to the feet, as explained in connection with\nthe whole-body pack.\n\nIf inner congestion is to be relieved, or if the object is to\npromote elimination, less of the wet linen and more dry wrappings\nshould be used.\n\nWhen packs are applied, the bed may be protected by spreading an\noilcloth over the mattress under the sheet. But in no case should\noilcloth or rubber sheeting be used for the outer covering of packs.\nThis would interfere with some of the main objects of the pack\ntreatment, especially with heat radiation. The outer covering should\nbe warm but at the same time porous, to allow the escape of heat and\nof poisonous gases from the body.\n\nLocal Compresses\n\nIn case of local inflammation, as in appendicitis, ovaritis,\ncolitis, etc., separate cooling compresses may be slipped under the\npack and over the seat of inflammation. These local compresses may\nbe removed and changed when hot and dry without disturbing the\nlarger pack.\n\nIn all fevers accompanied by high temperature, it is advisable to\nplace an extra cooling compress at the nape of the neck (the region\nof the medulla and the back brain), because here are located the\nbrain centers which regulate the inner temperature of the body\n(thermotaxic centers), and the cooling of these brain centers\nproduces a cooling effect upon the entire organism.\n\nEnemas\n\nWhile ordinarily we do not favor the giving of injections or enemas\nunless they are absolutely necessary, we apply them freely in\nfeverish diseases in order to remove from the rectum and lower colon\nany accumulations of morbid matter, and thus to prevent their\nreabsorption into the system. In cases of exceptionally stubborn\nconstipation, an injection of a few ounces of warm olive oil may be\ngiven. Allow this to remain in the colon about thirty minutes in\norder to soften the contents of the rectum, and follow with an\ninjection of warm water.\n\nJust How the Cold Packs Produce\n\nTheir Wonderful Results\n\n(1) How Cold Packs Promote Heat Radiation\n\nMany people are under the impression that the packs reduce the fever\ntemperature so quickly because they are put on cold. But this is not\nso, because, unless the reaction be bad, the packs become warm after\na few minutes' contact with the body.\n\nThe prompt reduction of temperature takes place because of increased\nheat radiation. The coldness of the pack may lower the surface\ntemperature slightly; but it is the moist warmth forming under the\npack on the surface of the body that draws the blood from the\ncongested interior into the skin, relaxes and opens its minute blood\nvessels and pores, and in that way facilitates the escape of heat\nfrom the body.\n\nIn febrile conditions the pores and capillary blood vessels of the\nskin are tense and contracted. Therefore the heat cannot escape, the\nskin is hot and dry, and the interior of the body remains\noverheated. When the skin relaxes and the patient begins to perspire\nfreely, we say the fever is broken.\n\nThe moist warmth under the wet pack produces this relaxation of the\nskin in a perfectly natural manner. By means of these simple packs\nfollowed by cold ablutions, the temperature of the patient can be\nkept at any point desired without the use of poisonous antifever\nmedicines, serums and antitoxins which lower the temperature by\nbenumbing and paralyzing heart action, respiration, the red and\nwhite blood corpuscles, and thus generally lowering the vital\nactivities of the organism.\n\n(2) How Cold Packs Relieve Inner Congestion\n\nIn all inflammatory febrile diseases the blood is congested in the\ninflamed parts and organs. This produces the four cardinal symptoms\nof inflammation: redness, swelling, heat, and pain. [Rubor, tumor,\ncolar and dolar.] If the congestion be too great, the pain becomes\nexcessive, and the inflammatory processes cannot run their natural\ncourse to the best advantage. It is therefore of great importance to\nrelieve the local blood pressure in the affected parts and this can\nbe accomplished most effectively by means of the wet packs.\n\nAs before stated, they draw the blood onto the surface of the body\nand in that way relieve inner congestion wherever it may exist,\nwhether it be in the brain, as in meningitis, in the lungs, as in\npneumonia, or in the inflamed appendix.\n\nIn several cases where a child was in the most dangerous stage of\ndiphtheria, where the membranes in throat and nasal passages were\nalready choking the little patient, the wet packs applied to the\nentire body from neck to feet relieved the congestion in the throat\nso quickly that within half an hour after the first application the\npatient breathed easily and soon made a perfect recovery. The\neffectiveness of these simple water applications in reducing\ncongestion, heat and pain is little short of marvelous.\n\n(3) How Cold Packs Promote Elimination\n\nBy far the largest number of deaths in febrile diseases result from\nthe accumulation in the system of poisonous substances, which\nparalyze or destroy vital centers and organs. Therefore it is\nnecessary to eliminate the morbid products of inflammation from the\norganism as quickly as possible.\n\nThis also is accomplished most effectively and thoroughly by the\napplication of wet packs. As they draw the blood into the surface\nand relax the minute blood vessels in the skin, the morbid materials\nin the blood are eliminated through the pores of the skin and\nabsorbed by the packs. That this is actually so is verified by the\nyellowish or brownish discoloration of the wet wrappings and by\ntheir offensive odor.\n\nOne of the main causes of constipation in febrile diseases is the\ninner congestion and fever heat. Through the cooling and relaxing\neffect of the packs upon the intestines, this inner fever heat is\nreduced, and a natural movement of the bowels greatly facilitated.\n\nIf constipation should persist in spite of the packs and cooling\ncompresses, injections of tepid water should be given every day or\nevery other day in order to prevent the reabsorption of poisonous\nproducts from the lower colon. But never give injections of cold\nwater with the idea of reducing fever in that way. This is very\ndangerous and may cause fatal collapse.\n\nThe Electromagnetic Effect of\n\nCold Water Applications\n\nOne of the most important, but least understood, effects of\nhydropathic treatment is its influence upon the electromagnetic\nenergies in the human body. At least, I have never found any\nallusions to this aspect of the cold-water treatment in any books on\nhydrotherapy which have come to my notice.\n\nThe sudden application of cold water or cold air to the surface of\nthe nude body and the inhalation of cold air into the lungs have the\neffect of increasing the amount of electromagnetic energy in the\nsystem.\n\nThis can be verified by the following experiment: Insert one of the\nplates of an electrometer (sensitive galvanometer) into the stomach\nof a person who has remained for some time in a warm room. Now let\nthis person inhale suddenly fresh, cold outside air. At once the\ngalvanometer will register a larger amount of electromagnetic\nenergy.\n\nThe same effect will be produced by the application of a quick, cold\nspray to the warm body.\n\nIt is the sudden lowering of temperature on the surface of the body\nor in the lungs and the resulting contrast between the heat within\nand the cold outside, that causes the increased manifestation of\nelectromagnetic energy in the system.\n\nThis, together with the acceleration of the entire circulation,\nundoubtedly accounts for the tonic effect of cold-water applications\nsuch as cold packs, ablutions, sprays, sitz baths, barefoot walking,\netc., and for the wonderfully bracing influence of fresh, cold\noutside air.\n\nThe energizing effect of cold air may also explain to a large extent\nthe superiority of the races inhabiting the temperate zones over\nthose of the warm and torrid southern regions.\n\nTo me it seems a very foolish custom to run away from the\ninvigorating northern winters to the enervating sameness of southern\nclimates. One of the reasons I abandoned, with considerable\nfinancial sacrifice, a well-established home in a Texas city which\nis the Mecca of health-seekers, was that I did not want to rear my\nchildren under the enervating influence of that beautiful climate.\nI, for my part, want some cold winter weather every year to stir up\nthe lazy blood corpuscles, to set the blood bounding through the\nsystem and to freeze out the microbes.\n\nIn our Nature Cure work we find all the way through that the\ncontinued application of warmth has a debilitating effect upon the\norganism, and that only by the opposing influences of alternating\nheat and cold can we produce the natural stimulation which awakens\nthe dormant vital energies in the body of the chronic.\n\nIncrease of Oxygen and Ozone\n\nThe liberation of electromagnetic currents through cold-water\napplications has other very important effects upon the system\nbesides that of stimulation.\n\nElectricity splits up molecules of water into hydrogen, oxygen and\nozone. We have an example of this in the thunderstorm. The powerful\nelectric discharges which we call lightning separate or split the\nwatery vapors in the air into these elements. It is the increase of\noxygen and ozone in the air that purifies and sweetens the\natmosphere after the storm.\n\nIn acute as well as in chronic disease, large amounts of oxygen and\nozone are required to burn up the morbid materials and to purify the\nsystem. Certain combinations of these elements are among the most\npowerful antiseptics and germicides.\n\nLikewise, the electric currents produced by cold packs, ablutions\nand other cold-water applications split up the molecules of water in\nthe tissues of the body into their component parts. In this way\nlarge amounts of oxygen and ozone are liberated, and these elements\nassist to a considerable extent in the oxidation and neutralization\nof waste materials and disease products.\n\nThe following experiment proves that sudden changes in temperature\ncreate electric currents in metals: When two cylinders of dissimilar\nmetals are welded together, and one of the metals is suddenly\nchilled or heated, electric currents are produced which will\ncontinue to flow until both metals are at the same temperature.\n\nAnother application of this principle is furnished by the oxydonor.\nIf both poles of this little instrument are exposed to the same\ntemperature, there is no manifestation of electricity; but if one of\nthe poles be attached to the warm body and the other immersed in\ncold water or exposed to cold air, the liberation of electromagnetic\ncurrents begins at once. These electric currents set free oxygen and\nozone, which in their turn support the oxidation and neutralization\nof systemic poisons.\n\nAccording to my experience, however, the cold-water applications are\nmore effective in this respect than the oxydonor.\n\nThe Importance of Right Mental and\n\nEmotional Attitude in Acute Disease\n\nWe have learned that in the processes of inflammation a battle is\ngoing on between the healing forces of the body, the phagocytes and\nnatural antitoxins on the one hand and the disease taints, germs,\nbacilli, etc., on the other hand.\n\nThis battle is real in every respect, as real as a combat between\narmies of living soldiers. In this conflict, going on in all acute\ninflammatory diseases, mind plays the same role as the commander of\nan army.\n\nThe great general needs courage, equanimity and presence of mind\nmost in the stress of battle. So the mind, the commander of the vast\narmies of cells battling in acute disease for the health of the\nbody, must have absolute faith in the superiority of Nature's\nhealing forces.\n\nIf the mind becomes frightened by the inflammatory and febrile\nsymptoms and pictures to itself in darkest colors their dreadful\nconsequences, these confused and distracted thought vibrations are\nconveyed instantaneously to the millions of little soldiers fighting\nin the affected parts and organs. They also become confused and\npanic-stricken.\n\nThe excitement of fear in the mind still more accelerates heart\naction and respiration, intensifies the local congestion and greatly\nincreases the morbid accumulations in the system. In the last\nchapters of this volume we shall deal especially with the\ndeteriorating influence of fear, anxiety, anger, irritability,\nimpatience, etc., and explain how these and all other destructive\nemotions actually poison the secretions of the body.\n\nIn acute disease we cannot afford to add to the poisonous elements\nin the organism, because the danger of a fatal ending lies largely\nin the paralysis of vital centers by the morbid and poisonous\nproducts of inflammation.\n\nEverything depends upon the maintenance of the greatest possible\ninflow of vital force; and there is nothing so weakening as worry\nand anxiety, nothing that impedes the inflow, distribution and\nnormal activity of the vital energies like fear. A person overcome\nby sudden fright is actually benumbed and paralyzed, unable to think\nand to act intelligently.\n\nThese truths may be expressed in another way. The victory of the\nhealing forces in acute disease depends upon an abundant supply of\nthe positive electromagnetie energies. In the initial chapters of\nthis volume we have learned that health is positive, disease\nnegative. The positive mental attitude of faith and equanimity\ncreates positive electromagnetic energies in the body, thus infusing\nthe battling phagocytes with increased vigor and favoring the\nsecretion of the antitoxins and antibodies, while the negative,\nfearful and worrying attitude of mind creates in the system the\nnegative conditions of weakness, lowered resistance and actual\nparalysis.\n\nIn the paragraphs dealing with the effects of cold-water treatment\nupon the body we learned that the electric currents created in the\norganism split up the molecules of water in the tissues into their\ncomponent elements (hydrogen and oxygen), thus liberating large\namounts of oxygen and ozone; and that these, in turn, support the\nprocesses of combustion and oxidation in the system, burn up waste\nand morbid matter, and destroy hostile microorganisms.\n\nHowever, the electromagnetic forces in the body are not only\nincreased and intensified by positive foods, exercise, cold-water\ntreatment, air baths, etc., but also by the positive attitude of\nmind and will.\n\nThe positive mind and will are to the body what the magneto is to\nthe automobile. As the electric sparks from the magneto ignite the\ngas, thus generating the power that drives the machine, so the\npositive vibrations, generated by a confident and determined will,\ncreate in the body the positive electromagnetic currents which\nincite and stimulate all vital activities.\n\nCommon experience teaches us that the concentration of the will on\nthe thing to be accomplished greatly heightens and increases all\nphysical, mental and moral powers.\n\nTherefore the victory in acute diseases is conditioned by the\nabsolute faith, confidence and serenity of mind on the part of the\npatient. The more he exercises these harmonizing and invigorating\nqualities of mind and soul, the more favorable are the conditions\nfor the little soldiers who are fighting his battles in the inflamed\nparts and organs. The blood and nerve currents are less impeded and\ndisturbed, and flow more normally. The local congestion is relieved,\nand this favors the natural course of the inflammatory processes.\n\nTherefore, instead of being overcome with fear and anxiety, as most\npeople are under such circumstances, do not become alarmed, nor\nconvey alarm to the millions of little cells battling in the\ninflamed parts. Speak to them like a commander addressing his\ntroops: \"We understand the laws of disease and cure, we know that\nthese inflammatory and febrile symptoms are the result of Nature's\nhealing efforts, we have perfect confidence in her wisdom and in the\nefficiency of her healing forces. This fever is merely a good\nhouse-cleaning, a healing crisis. We are eliminating morbid matter,\npoisons and germs which were endangering health and life.\n\n\"We rejoice over the purification and regeneration now taking place\nand benefiting the whole body. Fear not! Attend to your work quietly\nand serenely! Let us open ourselves wide to the inflow of life from\nthe source of all life in the innermost parts of our being! The life\nin us is the life of God. We are strengthened and made whole by the\nDivine life and power which animate the universe.\"\n\nThe serenity of your mind, backed by absolute trust in the Law and\nby the power of a strong Will, infuses the cells and tissues with\nnew life and vigor, enabling them to turn the acute disease into a\nbeneficial, cleansing and healing crisis.\n\nIn the following we give a similar formula for treating chronic\nconstipation.\n\nSay to the cells in the liver, the pancreas and the intestinal\ntract:\n\n\"I am not going to force you any longer with drugs or enemas to do\nyour duty. From now on you must work on your own initiative. Your\nsecretions will become more abundant. Every day at--o'clock the\nbowels will move freely and easily.\"\n\nAt the appointed time make the effort, whether you are success-ful\nor not, and do not resort to the enema until it becomes an absolute\nnecessity. If you combine with the mental and physical effort a\nnatural diet, cold sitz baths, massage and osteopathic treatment,\nyou will have need of the enema at increasingly longer intervals,\nand soon be able to discard it altogether.\n\nBe careful, however, not to employ your intelligence and your will\npower to suppress acute inflammatory and febrile processes and\nsymptoms. This can be accomplished by the power of the will as well\nas by ice bags and poisonous drugs, and its effect would be to turn\nNature's acute cleansing efforts into chronic disease.\n\nThe Importance of Right Mental and Emotional\n\nAttitude on the Part of Friends and Relatives\n\nWhat has just been said about the patient is true also of his\nfriends and relatives. Disease is negative. The sick person is\nexceedingly sensitive to his surroundings. He is easily influenced\nby all depressing, discordant and jarring conditions. He catches the\nexpressions of fear and anxiety in the looks, the words, gestures\nand actions of his attendants, relatives and friends and these\nintensify his own depression and gloomy forebodings.\n\nThis applies especially to the influence exerted by the mother upon\nher ailing infant. There exists a most intimate sympathetic and\ntelepathic connection between mother and child. The child is\naffected not only by the outward expression of the mother's fear and\nanxiety, but likewise by the hidden doubt and despair in the\nmother's mind and soul.\n\nUsually, the first thing that confronts me when I am called to the\nsickbed of a child is the frantic and almost hysterical mental\ncondition of the mother, and to begin with, I have to explain to her\nthe destructive influence of her behavior. I ask her:\n\n\"Would you willingly give some deadly poison to your child?\"\n\"Certainly not,\" she says, to which I reply:\n\n\"Do you realize that you are doing this very thing? That your fear\nand worry vibrations actually poison and paralyze the vital energies\nin the body of your child and most seriously interfere with Nature's\nhealing processes?\n\n\"Instead of helping the disease forces to destroy your child, assist\nthe healing forces to save it by maintaining an attitude of absolute\nfaith, serenity, calmness and cheerfulness. Then your looks, your\nvoice, your touch will convey to your child the positive, magnetic\nvibrations of health and of strength. Your very presence will\nradiate healing power.\"\n\nThen I explain how faith, calmness and cheerfulness on her part will\nsoothe and harmonize the discordant disease vibrations in the\nchild's body.\n\nHerein lies the modus operandi or working basis of all successful\nmental and metaphysical treatment.\n\nSummary\n\nNatural Methods in the Treatment of Acute Disease\n\n~I. Fresh Air~\n\nA plentiful supply of pure air in the sickroom. Frequent exposure of\nthe nude body to air and sun light. Patient must not be kept too\nwarm.\n\n~II. Natural Diet~\n\nThe minimum amount of light food, chiefly fruit and vegetable\nsalads, no condiments. Only enough water to quench thirst,\npreferably mixed with acid fruit juices. In serious acute febrile\nconditions and during healing crises no food whatever. In diseases\naffecting the digestive organs fasting must be prolonged several\ndays beyond cessation of febrile symptoms. Great care must be\nobserved when breaking fast.\n\n~III. Water Treatment~\n\nCooling sprays or sponge baths whenever temperature rises. Fever and\ninflammation must not be suppressed by cold-water applications, but\nkept below the danger point. Neither ice nor hot applications should\nbe used. Wet packs followed by cold ablutions for elimination of\nsystemic poisons. Separate compresses over seat of inflammation,\nalso at nape of neck. Kind and duration of pack to be determined by\ncondition of patient and object to be attained. Injections of tepid\nwater to relieve constipation when necessary.\n\n~IV. Medications~\n\nNo poisonous drugs, nor any medicines or applications which may\ncheck or suppress the feverish, inflammatory processes. Homeopathic\nmedicines, herb decoctions and specific nutritional remedies when\nindicated.\n\n~V. Manipulative Treatment~\n\nOsteopathy, massage or magnetic treatment when indicated and\navailable.\n\n~VI. Mental Attitude~\n\nCourage, serenity and presence of mind are important factors. Fear\nand anxiety intensify disease conditions, poison the secretions of\nthe body and inhibit the action of the healing forces. Do not\nsuppress acute inflammatory and feverish processes by the power of\nthe will. The right mental and emotional attitude of relatives and\nfriends exerts a powerful influence upon the patient.\n\n\n\nChapter XIV\n\n\nThe True Scope of Medicine\n\n\nAnyone able to read the signs of the times cannot help observing the\npowerful influence which the Nature Cure philosophy is already\nexerting upon the trend of modern medical science. In Germany the\nyounger generation of physicians has been forced by public demand to\nadopt the natural methods of treatment and the German government has\nintroduced them in the medical departments of its army and navy.\n\nIn English-speaking countries, the foremost members of the medical\nprofession are beginning to talk straight Nature Cure doctrine, to\ncondemn the use of drugs and to endorse unqualifiedly the Nature\nCure methods of treatment. In proof of this I quote from an article\nby Dr. William Osler in the ~Encyclopedia Americana,~ Vol. X, under\nthe title of \"Medicine\":\n\nDr. Osler on Medicine\n\n\"The new school does not feel itself under obligation to give any\nmedicines whatever, while a generation ago not only could few\nphysicians have held their practice unless they did, but few would\nhave thought it safe or scientific. Of course, there are still many\ncases where the patient or the patient's friends must be humored by\nadministering medicine or alleged medicine where it is not really\nneeded, and indeed often where the buoyancy of mind which is the\nreal curative agent, can only be created by making him wait\nhopefully for the expected action of medicine; and some physicians\nstill cannot unlearn their old training. But the change is great.\nThe modern treatment of disease relies very greatly on the old\nso-called natural methods, diet and exercise, bathing and\nmassage--in other words, giving the natural forces the fullest scope\nby easy and thorough nutrition, increased flow of blood and removal\nof obstructions to the excretory systems or the circulation in the\ntissues.\n\n\"One notable example is typhoid fever. At the outset of the\nnineteenth century it was treated with 'remedies' of the extremest\nviolence--bleeding and blistering, vomiting and purging, and the\nadministration of antimony and mercury, and plenty of other heroic\nremedies. Now the patient is bathed and nursed and carefully tended,\nbut rarely given medicine. This is the result partly of the\nremarkable experiments of the Paris and Vienna schools in the action\nof drugs, which have shaken the stoutest faiths; and partly of the\nconstant and reproachful object lesson of homeopathy. No regular\nphysician would ever admit that the homeopathic preparations,\n'infinitesimals,' could do any good as direct curative agents; and\nyet it was perfectly certain that homeopaths lost no more of their\npatients than others. There was but one conclusion to draw--that\nmost drugs had no effect whatever on the diseases for which they\nwere administered.\"\n\nDr. Osler is probably the greatest medical authority on drugs now\nliving. He was formerly professor of materia medica at the Johns\nHopkins University of Baltimore, U. S., and now holds a\nprofessorship at Oxford University, England. His books on medical\npractice are in use in probably every university and medical school\nin English-speaking countries. His views on drugs and their real\nvalue as expressed in this article should be an eye-opener to those\ngood people who believe that we of the Nature Cure school are\naltogether too radical, extreme, and somewhat cranky.\n\nHowever, what Dr. Osler says regarding the \"New School\" is true only\nof a few advanced members of the medical profession.\n\nOn the rank and file, the idea of drugless healing has about the\nsame effect as a red rag on a mad bull. There are still very few\nphysicians in general practice today who would not lose their bread\nand butter if they attempted to practice drugless healing on their\npatients. Both the profession and the public will need a good deal\nmore education along Nature Cure lines before they will see the\nlight.\n\nIn the second sentence of his article, Dr. Osler admits the efficacy\nof mental therapeutics and therapeutic faith as a \"curative agent,\"\nand ascribes the good effects of medicine to their stimulating\ninfluence upon the patient's mind rather than to any beneficial\naction of the drugs themselves.\n\nWith regard to the origin of the modern treatment of typhoid fever,\nhowever, the learned doctor is either misinformed or he\nmisrepresents the facts. The credit for the introduction of\nhydropathic treatment of typhoid fever does not belong to the\n\"remarkable experiments of the Paris and Vienna schools.\" These\nschools and the entire medical profession fought this treatment with\nmight and main. For thirty years Priessnitz, Bilz, Ruhne, Father\nKneipp and many other pioneers of Nature Cure were persecuted and\nprosecuted, dragged into the courts and tried on the charges of\nmalpractice and manslaughter for using their sane and natural\nmethods. Not until Dr. Braun of Berlin wrote an essay on the good\nresults obtained by the hydropathic treatment of typhoid fever and\nit had in that way received orthodox baptism and sanction, was it\nadopted by advanced physicians all over the world.\n\nThrough the Nature Cure treatment of typhoid fever, the mortality of\nthis disease has been reduced from over fifty percent under the old\ndrug treatment to less than five percent under the water treatment.\n\nBut the average medical practitioner has not yet learned from the\nNature Cure school, that the same simple fasting and cold water\nwhich cure typhoid fever so effectively, will just as surely and\neasily cure every other form of acute disease, as, for instance,\nscarlet fever, diphtheria, smallpox, cerebrospinal meningitis,\nappendicitis, etc. Therefore, we claim that there is no necessity\nfor the employment of poisonous drugs, serums and antitoxins for\nthis purpose.\n\nReferring to the last two sentences of Dr. Osler's article,\nhomeopaths have, as a matter of fact, lost less patients than\nallopaths. The effect of homeopathic medicine, moreover, is not\naltogether negative, as Dr. Osler implies. The discovery of the\nminute cell as the basis of the human organism on the one hand and\nof the unlimited divisibility of matter on the other hand explains\nthe rationality of the infinitesimal dose. Health and disease are\nresident in the cell; therefore, the homeopath doctors the cell, and\nthe size of the dose has to be apportioned to the size of the\npatient.\n\nWhen Dr. Osler says that most drugs have no effect whatsoever, he\nmakes a serious misstatement. While they may not contribute anything\nto the cure of the disease for which they are given, they are often\nvery harmful in themselves.\n\nAlmost every virulent poison known to man is found in allopathic\nprescriptions. It is now positively proved by the Diagnosis from the\nEye that these poisons have a tendency to accumulate in the system,\nto concentrate in certain parts and organs for which they have a\nspecial affinity and then to cause continual irritation and actual\ndestruction of tissues. By far the greater part of all chronic\ndiseases are created or complicated on the one hand by the\nsuppression of acute diseases by means of drug poisons, and on the\nother hand through the destructive effects of the drugs themselves.\n\nDr. Schwenninger, the medical adviser of Prince Bismarck, and later\nof Richard Wagner, the great composer, has published a book entitled\n~The Doctor.~ This work is the most scathing arraignment and\ncondemnation of modern medical practice, especially of poisonous\ndrugs and of surgery. Dr. Treves, the body physician of the late\nKing Edward of England, is no less outspoken in his denunciation of\ndrugging than Drs. Osler and Schwenninger.\n\nJust a few men like these, foremost in the medical profession, who\nhave achieved financial and scientific independence, can afford to\nspeak so frankly. The great majority of physicians, even though they\nknow better, continue in the old ruts so as to be considered ethical\nand orthodox, and in order to hold their practice. It is not the\nmedical profession that has brought about this reform in the\ntreatment of typhoid fever and other diseases. They have been forced\ninto the adoption of the more advanced natural methods through the\npressure of the Nature Cure movement in Germany and elsewhere.\n\nDr. Osler's statements, made with due deliberation in a contribution\nto the ~Encyclopedia Americana,~ are certainly a frank declaration\nas to the uselessness of drug treatment, and on the other hand, an\nunqualified endorsement of natural methods of healing.\n\nBut it seems to me that Dr. Osler pours out the baby with the bath\nwater, as we say in German. That is, I am inclined to think that his\nopinion regarding the ineffectiveness of drugs is entirely too\nradical. There is a legitimate scope for medicinal remedies insofar\nas they build up the blood on a natural basis and serve as tissue\nfoods.\n\nMany people who have lost their faith in \"Old School\" methods of\ntreatment have swung around to the other extreme of medical\nnihilism. In fact, Dr. Osler himself stands accused of being a\nmedical nihilist.\n\nMany of those who have adopted natural methods of living and of\ntreating diseases have acquired an actual horror of the word\nmedicine. However, this extreme attitude is not justified.\n\nIt also appears that some of the readers of my writings are under\nthe impression that we of the Nature Cure school absolutely condemn\nthe use of any and all medicines. This, however, is not so.\n\nThe Position of \"Nature Cure\" Regarding Medicinal Remedies\n\nWe do condemn the use of drugs insofar as they are poisonous and\ndestructive and insofar as they suppress acute diseases or healing\ncrises, which are Nature's cleansing and healing efforts; but on the\nother hand we realize that there is a wide field for the helpful\napplication of medicinal remedies insofar as they act as foods to\nthe tissues of the body and as neutralizers and eliminators of waste\nand morbid materials.\n\nIn every form of chronic disease there exists in the system, on the\none hand, an excess of certain morbid materials, and on the other\nhand, a deficiency of certain mineral constituents, organic salts,\nwhich are essential to the normal functions of the body.\n\nThus, in all anemic diseases the blood is lacking in iron, which\npicks up the oxygen in the air cells of the lungs and carries it\ninto the tissues, and in sodium, which combines with the carbonic\nacid (coalgas) that is constantly being liberated in the system and\nconveys it to the organs of depuration, especially the lungs and the\nskin. In point of fact, oxygen starvation is due in a much greater\ndegree to the deficiency of sodium and the consequential\naccumulation of carbonic acid in the system (carbonic acid\nasphyxiation) than to the lack of iron in the blood, as assumed by\nthe regular school of medicine.\n\nFoods or medicinal remedies which will supply this deficiency of\niron and sodium in the organism will tend to overcome the anemic\nconditions.\n\nThe great range of uric acid diseases, such as rheumatism, calculi,\narteriosclerosis, certain forms of diabetes and albuminuria, are\ndue, on the one hand, to the excessive use of acid-producing foods,\nand on the other hand, to a deficiency in the blood of certain\nalkaline mineral elements, especially sodium, magnesium and\npotassium, whose office it is to neutralize and eliminate the acids\nwhich are created and liberated in the processes of starchy and\nprotein digestion.\n\nIn another chapter I have explained the origin and progressive\ndevelopment of uric-acid diseases. Our volume on Natural Dietetics\nwill contain additional proof that practically all diseases are\ncaused by, or complicated with, acid conditions in the system.\n\nAny foods or medicines which will provide the system with sufficient\nquantities of the acid-binding, alkaline mineral salts will prove to\nbe good medicine for all forms of acid diseases.\n\nThe mineral constituents necessary to the vital economy of the\norganism should, however, be supplied in the organic form. This will\nbe explained more fully in subsequent pages.\n\nFrom what I have said, it becomes apparent that it is impossible to\ndraw a sharp line of distinction between foods and medicines. All\nfoods which serve the above-named purposes are good medicines, and\nall nonpoisonous herb extracts, homeopathic and vitochemical\nremedies that have the same effect upon the system are, for the same\nreason, good foods.\n\nThe medical treatment of the Nature Cure school consists largely in\nthe proper selection and combination of food materials. This must be\nso. It stands to reason that Nature has provided within the ranges\nof the natural foods all the elements which Man needs in the way of\nfood and medicine.\n\nBut it is quite possible that, through continued abuse, the\ndigestive apparatus has become so weak and so abnormal that it\ncannot function properly, that it cannot absorb and assimilate from\nnatural foods a sufficient quantity of the elements which the\norganism needs. In such cases it may be very helpful and indeed\nimperative to take the organic mineral salts in the forms of fruit,\nherb and vegetable juices, extracts or decoctions. Among the best of\nthese food remedies are extracts of leafy vegetables such as\nlettuce, spinach, Scotch kale, cabbage, Swiss chard, etc. These\nvegetables are richer than any other foods in the positive mineral\nsalts. The extract may be prepared from one or more of these\nvegetables, according to the supply on hand or the tolerance of the\ndigestive organs and the taste and preference of the patient. They\nshould be ground to a pulp in a vegetable grinder, then pressed out\nin a small fruit press, which can be secured in any department\nstore. One or two teacups per day will be sufficient to supply the\nneeds of the system for mineral salts. This extract should be\nprepared fresh every day.\n\nThen there are the Kneipp Herb Remedies. Most of these are the\nHausmittel [home remedies] of the country population of Germany\nwhich have proved their efficacy since time immemorial. Their\nmedicinal value lies in the organic mineral salts which they contain\nin large quantities and in beneficial combinations.\n\nThe homeopathic medications, as will be explained at length in\nanother chapter, produce their good results because they work in\nharmony with the Laws of Nature.\n\nWe never hesitate, therefore, to prescribe for our patients\nhomeopathic medicines, herb decoctions and extracts, and the\nvitochemical remedies which assist in the elimination of morbid\nmatter from the system and in building up blood and lymph on a\nnormal basis, that is, remedies which supply the organism with the\nmineral elements in which it is deficient in the organic, easily\nassimilable form. Herein lies the legitimate scope of medicinal\nremedies.\n\nAll medicinal remedies which build up the system on a normal,\nnatural basis and increase its fighting power against disease\nwithout in any way inflicting injury upon the organism are welcome\nto the adherents of the Nature Cure methods of treatment.\n\nOn the other hand, we do not use any drugs or medicines which tend\nto hinder, check or suppress Nature's cleansing and regenerating\nprocesses. We never give anything in the least degree poisonous. We\navoid all anodynes, hypnotics, sedatives, antipyretics, laxatives,\ncathartics, etc. Judicious fasting, cold-water applications and, if\nnecessary, warm-water injections in case of constipation will do\neverything that is claimed for poisonous drugs.\n\nInorganic Minerals and Mineral Poisons\n\nFor many years past, physicians of the different schools of\nmedicine, diet experts and food chemists have been divided on the\nquestion whether or not mineral substances which in the organic form\nenter into the composition of the human body may safely be used in\nfoods and medicines in the inorganic form.\n\nThe medical profession holds almost unanimously that this is\npermissible and good practice, so that nearly every allopathic\nmedical prescription contains some such inorganic substance, or\nworse than that, one or more virulent mineral poisons, as mercury,\narsenic, phosphorus, etc.\n\nSo far, the discussion about the usefulness or harmfulness of\ninorganic minerals as foods and medicines was largely theoretical\nand controversial. Neither party had positive proofs for its\ncontentions.\n\nBut Nature's records in the iris of the eye settle the question for\ngood and for ever. One of the fundamental principles of the science\nof Diagnosis from the Eye is that \"nothing shows in the iris by\nabnormal signs or discolorations except that which is abnormal in\nthe body or injurious to it.\" When substances which are uncongenial\nor poisonous to the system accumulate in any part or organ of the\nbody in sufficient quantities, they will indicate their presence by\ncertain signs and abnormal colors in the corresponding areas of the\niris.\n\nIn this way Nature makes known by her records in the eye what\nsubstances are injurious to the body, and which are harmless.\n\nCertain mineral elements, such as iron, sodium, potassium, calcium,\nmagnesium, phosphorus, sulphur, etc., which are among the important\nconstituents of the human body, may be taken in the organic form in\nfruits and vegetables, or in herb extracts and the vitochemical\nremedies, in large amounts, in fact, far beyond the actual needs of\nthe body, but they will not show in the iris of the eye, because\nthey are easily eliminated from the system.\n\nIf, however, the same minerals be taken in the inorganic form in\nconsiderable quantities, the iris will exhibit certain well-defined\nsigns and discolorations in the areas corresponding to those parts\nof the body in which the mineral substances have accumulated.\n\nObviously, Nature does not intend that these mineral elements should\nenter the organism in the inorganic form, and therefore the organs\nof depuration are not able to neutralize and eliminate them.\n\nThus, for instance, any amount of iron may be taken in vegetable or\nherb extracts, or in the vitochemical remedies, but this will not be\nseen in the eye. Whatever is taken in excess of the needs of the\nbody will be promptly eliminated.\n\nIf, however, similar quantities of iron be taken for the same length\nof time in the inorganic, mineral form, the iron will accumulate in\nthe tissues of stomach and bowels, and begin to show in the iris in\nthe form of a rust brown discoloration in the corresponding areas of\nthe digestive organs, directly around the pupil.\n\nIn similar manner sodium, which is one of the most important mineral\nelements in the human body, if taken in the inorganic form, will\nshow in a heavy, white rim along the outer edge of the iris. Sulphur\nwill show in the form of yellowish discolorations in the area of\nstomach and bowels. Iodine in the medicinal, inorganic form,\nprepared from the ash of seaweeds, shows in the iris in well-defined\nbright red spots. Phosphorus appears in whitish streaks and clouds\nin the areas corresponding to the organs in which it has\naccumulated.\n\nAn interesting exception to this rule is our common table salt\n(sodium chloride), which is an inorganic mineral combination. So\nfar, diagnosticians from the eye have not discovered any sign in the\niris for it. There seems to be something in its nature that makes it\nakin to organic substances or, like other inorganic minerals and\ntheir combinations, it would show in the iris.\n\nThis might explain why salt is the only inorganic mineral substance\nwhich is extensively used as food by humanity in general. Also\nanimals who, guided by their natural instincts, are the finest\ndiscriminators in the selection of foods and medicines, do not\nhesitate to take salt freely (salt licks) when they would not touch\nany other inorganic mineral.\n\nNevertheless, we do not wish to encourage the excessive use of salt,\neither in the cooking of food or at the table. Taken in considerable\nquantities, it is undoubtedly injurious to the tissues of the body.\n\nBefore the days of canned goods, scurvy was a common disease among\nmariners and other people who had to subsist for long periods of\ntime on salted meats and were deprived of fresh vegetables. The\ndisease manifested as a breaking down of the gums and other tissues\nof the body, accompanied by bleeding and much soreness. As soon as\nthese people partook of fresh fruits and vegetables, the scurvy\ndisappeared.\n\nThe minerals contained in these organic salts foods furnished the\nbuilding-stones which imparted tensile strength to the tissues and\nstopped the disintegration of the fleshy structures.\n\nThe Nature Cure regimen aims to provide sodium chloride as well as\nthe other mineral elements and salts required by the body in organic\nform in foods and medicines.\n\nWhen the use of inorganic minerals is discontinued and when the\nproper methods of eliminative treatment, dietetic and otherwise, are\napplied, these mineral substances are gradually dislodged and\ncarried out of the system. Simultaneously with their elimination\ndisappear their signs in the iris and the disease symptoms which\ntheir presence had created in the organism.\n\nIn this connection it is a significant fact that those minerals\nwhich are congenial to the system, that is, those which in their\norganic form enter into the composition of the body, are much more\neasily eliminated if they have been taken in the inorganic form,\nthan those substances which are naturally foreign and poisonous to\nthe human organism, such as mercury, arsenic, iodine, the bromides,\nthe different coal-tar preparations, etc.\n\nThis is proved by the fact that the signs of the minerals which are\nnormal constituents of the human body disappear from the iris of the\neye much more quickly than the signs of those minerals which are\nforeign and naturally poisonous to the system.\n\nThe difficulty we experience in eliminating mineral poisons from the\nbody would seem to indicate that Nature never intended them to be\nused as foods or medicines. The intestines, kidneys, skin, mucous\nmembranes and other organs of depuration are evidently not\nconstructed or prepared to cope with inorganic, poisonous substances\nand to eliminate them completely. Accordingly, these poisons show\nthe tendency to accumulate in certain parts or organs of the body\nfor which they have a special affinity and then to act as irritants\nand destructive corrodents.\n\nThe diseases which we find most difficult to cure, even by the most\nradical application of natural methods, are cases of drug-poisoning.\nSubstances which are foreign to the human organism, and especially\nthe inorganic, mineral poisons, positively destroy tissues and\norgans, and are much harder to eliminate from the system than the\nencumbrances of morbid materials and waste matter produced in the\nbody by wrong habits of living only. The obvious reason for this is\nthat our organs of elimination are intended and constructed to\nexcrete only such waste products as are formed in the organism in\nthe processes of metabolism.\n\nTuberculosis or cancer may be caused in a scrofulous or psoriatic\nconstitution by overloading the system with meat, coffee, alcohol or\ntobacco; but as soon as these bad habits are discontinued, and the\norgans of elimination stimulated by natural methods, the\nencumbrances will be eliminated, and the much-dreaded symptoms will\nsubside and disappear, often with surprising rapidity.\n\nOn the other hand, mercury, arsenic, quinine, strychnine, iodine,\netc., accumulate in the brain, the spinal cord, and the cells and\ntissues of the vital organs, causing actual destruction and\ndisintegration. The tissues thus affected are not easily rebuilt,\nand it is exceedingly difficult to stir up the destructive mineral\npoisons and to eliminate them from the system.\n\nTherefore it is an indisputable fact that many of the most stubborn,\nso-called incurable diseases are drug diseases\n\nThe Importance of Natural Diet\n\nWhile certain medicinal remedies in organic form may be very useful\nin supplying quickly a deficiency of mineral elements in the system,\nwe should aim to keep our bodies in a normal, healthy condition by\nproper food selection and combination. A brief description of the\nscientific basis of \"Natural Dietetics\" will be found in the chapter\non Diet.\n\nUndoubtedly, Nature has supplied all the elements which the human\norganism needs in abundance and in the right proportions in the\nnatural foods, otherwise she would be a very ignorant organizer and\nprovider.\n\nWe should learn to select and combine food materials in such a\nmanner that they supply all the needs of the body in the best\npossible way and thus insure perfect health and strength without the\nuse of medicines.\n\nWhy should we attempt to cure anemia with inorganic iron,\nhyperacidity of the stomach with baking soda, swollen glands with\niodine, the itch with sulphur, ricket conditions in infants with\nlime water, etc., when these mineral elements are contained in\nabundance and in live, organic form in fruits and vegetables, herbs\nand in the vitochemical remedies?\n\nUnfortunately, however, a great many individuals, through wrong\nhabits of living and of treating their ailments, have ruined their\ndigestive organs to such an extent that they are incapable of\nproperly assimilating their food and require, at least temporarily,\nstimulative treatment by natural methods and a supply of the\nindispensable organic mineral salts through medicinal food\npreparations.\n\nIn such cases the mineral elements must be provided in the most\neasily assimilable form in vegetable extracts (which should be\nprepared fresh every day), and in the vitochemical remedies.\n\nWhat has been said is sufficient, I believe, to justify the attitude\nof the Nature Cure school toward medicines in general. It explains\nwhy we avoid the use of inorganic minerals and poisonous substances,\nwhile on the other hand we find a wide and useful field for\nmedicinal remedies in the form of blood and tissue foods.\n\n\n\nChapter XV\n\n\nHomeopathy\n\n\nWhen we recommend the use of homeopathic remedies, the medical\nnihilist says: \"Don't talk homeopathy to me! I didn't come to you\nfor drugs; I have had enough of them.\"\n\nWhen we explain that these remedies are so highly refined that they\ncannot possibly do any harm, he becomes still more indignant. \"I\ndon't need any of your mental therapeutics in homeopathic form,\" he\nexclaims. \"I, too, believe in the power of mind over matter, but I\nhave no faith in your sugar of milk pellets; they are poor\nsubstitutes for the real article. That kind of sugar-coated\nsuggestion might work on some people, but it doesn't on me.\"\n\nWhen I first entered upon the study of medicine, I, too, did not\nbelieve in the curative power of homeopathic doses; but experience\ncaused me to change my mind. The well-selected remedy administered\nat the right time often works wonders.\n\nTrue homeopathic medicines in high-potency doses are so highly\nrefined and rarefied that they cannot possibly produce harmful\nresults or suppress Nature's cleansing and healing efforts; on the\ncontrary, if employed according to the Law of Homeopathy: \"like\ncures like,\" they assist in producing acute reactions or healing\ncrises, thus aiding Nature in the work of purification and repair.\n\nHomeopathy Works with the Laws of Cure, Not Against Them. ~Similia\nsimilibus curantur~ (like cures like) translated into practice means\nthat a drug capable of producing a certain set of disease symptoms\nin a healthy body, when given in large, physiological doses, will\nrelieve or cure a similar set of symptoms in the diseased organism\nif the drug be given in small, homeopathic doses.\n\nFor instance, ~belladonna,~ given in large, poisonous doses to a\nhealthy person, will cause a peculiar headache with sharp, stabbing\npains in forehead and temples, high fever, violent delirium,\ndilation of the pupils, dryness and rawness of the throat, scarlet\nredness of the skin and extreme sensitiveness to light, jars and\nnoises.\n\nIt will be observed that this is a fair picture of a typical case of\nscarlet fever. A homeopathic prescriber, when called to a scarlet\nfever patient exhibiting in a marked degree three or more of the\nabove-described symptoms, would give a trituration of belladonna,\nsay 6x. In numberless cases the fever has subsided and its symptoms\nhave rapidly disappeared under such treatment.\n\nThe reader may say: \"I do not see any difference between this and\nthe allopathic suppression of disease by drugs.\"\n\nThere is a great difference. The allopathic physician may use the\nsame remedy, belladonna, in the same case, but he will give from ten\nto twenty drops of tincture of belladonna, repeated every three or\nfour hours. These doses are from twenty to forty thousand times\nstronger than the homeopathic 3x or 6x.\n\nHerein lies the difference. The allopathic dose allays the fever\nsymptoms by paralyzing the organism as a whole and the different\nvital organs and their functions in particular. This is frankly\nadmitted in every allopathic materia medica. But by such dosing\nNature is forcibly interrupted in her efforts of cleansing and\nhealing; the acute reaction is suppressed, but not cured.\n\nIf fever is a healing effort of Nature, it may be controlled and\nmodified, but must not be suppressed. A minute dose of homeopathic\nbelladonna, acting on the innermost cells of the organism which the\ncoarser allopathic doses would paralyze, stimulates these cells to\neffort in the right direction. It brings about conditions similar to\nthose produced by Nature, and thus assists her; it is cooperation\ninstead of counteroperation.\n\nAfter this brief discussion of the practical application of\nhomeopathy, let us now ascertain in how far its laws and theories\nagree with and corroborate the laws and principles of the Nature\nCure school.\n\nHahnemann discovered the Law of ~similia similibus curantur\n~accidentally, while investigating the effects of quinine on the\nhuman organism. Ever since then it has been applied successfully by\nhim and his followers in treating human ailments.\n\nHowever, this law has been used empirically. Neither in the Organon\nnor in any other writings or teachings of Hahnemann and the\nhomeopathic school can be found a clear and concise explanation of\nwhy like cures like. The proof offered has been negative rather than\npositive.\n\nTherefore the allopath says: \"You tell me that ~'like cures like,'\n~and that you can prove it at the sickbed; but unless you can give\nme good and valid reasons why it should be so, I cannot and will not\nbelieve that it is your 'similar' which cures the patient. How do I\nknow it is your 'potency'? The patient might recover just as well\nwithout it.\"\n\nWith the aid of the three laws of cure, I shall endeavor to give the\nreasons and furnish the proofs for our contentions. The laws alluded\nto are: The Law of Cure, the Law of Dual Effect and the Law of\nCrises.\n\n~Similia similibus curantur~ is only another way of stating the\nfundamental Law of Nature Cure: \"Every acute disease is the result\nof a cleansing and healing effort of Nature.\"\n\nIf a certain set of disease symptoms are the result of a healing\neffort of Nature, and if I give a remedy which produces the same or\nsimilar symptoms in the system, am I not aiding Nature in her\nattempt to overcome the abnormal conditions?\n\nIn such a case, the indicated homeopathic remedy will not suppress\nthe acute reaction, but it will help it along, thus accelerating and\nhastening the curative process.\n\nIn the last analysis, disease resides in the cell. The well-being of\nthe organism as a whole is dependent upon the health of the\nindividual cells of which it is composed. This has been explained\nmore fully in connection with the action of stimulants.\n\nIn order to cure the man, we must free the cell of its encumbrances.\nElimination must begin in the cell, not in the organs of depuration.\nLaxatives and cathartics, by irritating the digestive tract, may\ncause a forced evacuation of the contents of the intestinal canal,\nbut they do not eliminate the poisons which clog cells and tissues.\n\nIn stubborn chronic diseases, when the cells are too weak to throw\noff the latent encumbrances of their own accord, a well-chosen\nhomeopathic remedy is often of great service in arousing them to\nacute reaction.\n\nFor instance, if the system is heavily encumbered with scrofulous\ntaints and if its vitality is lowered to such an extent that the\nindividual cell cannot of itself throw off the morbid encumbrances\nby means of a vigorous, acute effort, sulphur, if administered in\ndoses sufficiently triturated and refined to affect the minute cells\ncomposing the organism, will start disease vibrations similar to\nthose of acute scrofulosis, and thus give the needed impetus to\nacute eliminative activity on the part of the individual cell.\n\nThe acute reaction, once started, may develop into vigorous forms of\nscrofulous elimination, such as skin eruptions, glandular swellings,\nabscesses, catarrhal discharges, etc.\n\nAre High-Potency Doses Effective?\n\nThe question now arises: How large or how small must the dose be in\norder to affect the minute cells?\n\nIn the administration of medicines, the size of the dose is adjusted\nto the size of the patient. If half a grain of a certain drug is the\nnormal dose for an adult, the proper dose of the same drug for a\nsmall infant, say, less than a year old, may be about one\ntwenty-fifth of the adult dose. How small, in proportion, should\nthen be the dose given to a cell a billion times as small as the\ninfant?\n\nThe dose given to an adult would paralyze or perhaps kill an infant.\nIn like manner the minute cell would be benumbed and paralyzed by\nthe drug suited to the infant's organism.\n\nBut this is how allopathy effects its fictitious cures. It\nsuppresses inflammatory processes by paralyzing the cells and organs\nand their vital activities.\n\nHomeopathy adapts the smallness of the dose to the smallness of the\ncell which is to be treated. Herein lies the reasonableness of the\nhigh-potency dose.\n\nThe Personal Responsibility of the Cell\n\nThe cell resembles Man not only in physical and physiological\naspects, but also in regard to the moral law.\n\nElimination must commence in the cell and by virtue of the cell's\npersonal effort. Its work cannot be done vicariously by drugs or the\nknife. Large, allopathic doses of medicine may be given with the\nidea of doing the work for the cell by violently stimulating or else\nparalyzing the organism as a whole or certain ones of the vital\norgans; but this is demoralizing and destructive to the cell. The\npowerful doses calculated to affect the body and its organs as a\nwhole make superfluous or paralyze the individual efforts of the\ncells and thus intensify the chronic disease conditions in cells and\ntissues.\n\nAlms-giving, prison sentences and capital punishment have a similar\nallopathic effect upon Man, the individual cell of the social body.\nInstead of providing for him the proper environment and the\nopportunity for natural development and for working out his own\nsalvation, they take this opportunity away from him and weaken his\npersonal effort or make it impossible.\n\nThe Efficacy of Small Doses\n\nThe late revelations of chemistry, Roentgen rays, x-rays,\nradio-activity of metals, etc., throw an interesting light upon the\nseemingly infinite divisibility of matter. A small particle of a\ngiven substance may for many years throw off a continuous shower of\ncorpuscles without perceptibly diminishing its volume.\n\nFor an illustration we may take the odoriferous musk. A few grains\nof this substance will fill a room with its penetrating aroma for\nyears. When we smell musk or any other perfume, minute particles of\nit bombard the end filaments of the nerves of smell in the nose.\nTherefore the musk must be casting off such minute particles\ncontinually without apparent loss of substance.\n\nWith the aid of this recent knowledge of the true nature of matter,\nof the minuteness and complexity of the atom, we can now understand\nhow the highly triturated and refined (attenuated) homeopathic\nremedy may still retain the dynamic force of the element, as\nHahnemann has expressed it, and how a remedy so attenuated may still\nbe capable of exerting an influence upon the minute cell. Since\nchemistry and physiology have acquainted us with the finer forces of\nNature, demonstrating that they are mightier than the things we can\napprehend by weight and measure, the claims of homeopathy do not\nappear so absurd as they did a generation ago.\n\nUndoubtedly, the good effect produced by a well-chosen remedy is\nheightened and strengthened by the mental and magnetic influence of\nthe prescriber. The positive faith of the physician in the efficacy\nof the remedy, his sympathy and his indomitable will to assist the\nsufferer affect both the physical substance of the remedy and the\nmind of the patient.\n\nThe varying mental and magnetic qualities of prescribers have\nundoubtedly much to do with the varying degrees of efficaciousness\nof the same remedy when administered by different physicians.\n\nThe true Hahnemannian homeopath, who believes in his remedies as in\nhis God, will concentrate his intellectual and spiritual forces on a\ncertain remedy in order to accomplish certain well-defined results.\nThe bottle is not allowed to become empty. Whenever the graft runs\nlow, it is replenished with distilled water, alcohol, milk sugar, or\nanother \"vehicle.\" Every time he takes the medicine bottle into his\nhands, these potent thought forms are projected into it: \"You are\nthe element sulphur. You produce in the human body a certain set of\nsymptoms. You will produce these symptoms in the body of this\npatient.\"\n\nIf there is any virtue at all in magnetic, mental and spiritual\nhealing, the homeopathic remedy must be an effective agency for\ntransmitting magnetic, mental and psychic healing forces from\nprescriber to patient.\n\nTransmission of these higher and finer forces, whether directly,\ntelepathically or by means of some physical agent, such as\nmagnetized water, a charm or simile, etc., is the modus operandi in\nall the different forms of ancient and modern magic, white or black.\nIt is the active principle in mental healing, Christian Science,\nsympathy healing, voodooism, witchcraft, etc.\n\nHomeopathy and the Law of Dual Effect\n\nI have formulated the Law of Action and Reaction in its application\nto the treatment of diseases as follows:\n\n\"Every agent affecting the human organism has two effects: a first,\napparent, temporary one and a second, lasting one. The second effect\nis directly opposite to the first.\"\n\nAllopathy, in giving large, physiological doses, takes into\nconsideration only the first, apparent effect of the drug, and\nthereby accomplishes in the long run results directly opposite to\nthose which it desires to bring about. It produces the very\nconditions it tries to cure. As an example, note the permanent\neffects of laxatives, stimulants and sedatives upon the system. This\nhas been explained more fully in Chapter Six.\n\nOn the other hand, the homeopathic physician may use the same\nremedies as the allopath, provided they produce symptoms similar to\nthose of the disease, but he administers the different drugs in such\nminute doses that their first effect is noticed only as a slight\n\"homeopathic aggravation,\" while their second and lasting effect is\nrelied upon to relieve and cure the disease.\n\nIn other words, homeopathy produces as the first effect the\ncondition like the disease, and counts on the second and lasting\neffect of the drug to bring about a permanent change.\n\nIf, in accordance with the Law of Dual Effect as applied to drugs,\nthe primary, temporary effect of the homeopathic remedy is equal to\nthe disease, it is self-evident that the secondary, lasting effect\nof the remedy must be equal to the cure.\n\nThis law has been proved by homeopathy for over a hundred years. An\nexperienced homeopathic prescriber would no more doubt it than he\nwould doubt the Law of Gravitation.\n\nHomeopathy and the Law of Crises\n\nTherefore, if the remedy be well chosen in accord with the Law of\n~similia similibus curantur,~ the first homeopathic aggravation,\nwhich corresponds to the crisis of Nature Cure, will be followed by\nspeedy and perfect readjustment. Nature has her way, the disorder\nruns its course, and the return to normal conditions will be quicker\nand more perfect than if the homeopathic remedy had not been\nemployed or if Nature's healing processes had been forcibly\ninterrupted and suppressed by large, poisonous allopathic doses.\nHomeopathy assists Nature in removing the old encumbrances, whereas\nallopathy changes the acute, inflammatory healing effort into\nchronic, destructive disease.\n\nThe Economics of Homeopathy\n\nThe Law of ~like cures like~ is of great practical importance from\nanother point of view, namely, that of economics.\n\nThe best engineer is the one who accomplishes the maximum of results\nwith the minimum of expenditure of force and with the least\nfriction. The same is true of the physician and his remedies.\n\nWe have learned that drugs given in the coarse allopathic doses\nattack and affect the organism as a whole. If, for instance, there\nis a catarrhal affection of the serous and mucous membranes of the\nrespiratory tract accompanied by fever, the allopath will give\nquinine in large doses to change this condition. He may accomplish\nhis aim; but if so, he does it by paralyzing the heart, the\nrespiratory centers, the red and white blood corpuscles and the\nexcreting cells of the mucous membranes. The body as a whole and\ncertain parts in particular are saturated with the drug poison and\ncorrespondingly weakened. As allopathy itself states it: \"Quinine\nreduces fever by depressing the metabolism\" (the vital functions).\n\nHomeopathic materia medica teaches that ~Bryonia~ has a special\naffinity for the mucous and serous membranes of the respiratory\ntract and that its symptomatic effects correspond closely to those\ndescribed in the preceding paragraph.\n\nIf, in accordance with the Law of ~similia similibus curantur,~ a\nhomeopathic dose of Bryonia be given to a patient exhibiting these\nsymptoms, the remedy, as has been demonstrated, will assist Nature\nin her work of cure; and in doing this, it will not attack and\naffect the entire organism, but only those serous and mucous tissues\nfor which it has a special affinity and which, as in the case of\nthis patient, are the most seriously affected.\n\nTo state it in another way: the large, allopathic dose paralyzes the\nwhole organism in order to produce its fictitious cure. The small,\nhomeopathic dose, on the other hand, goes right to the spot where it\nis needed, and by mild and harmless stimulation of the affected\nparts, assists and supports the cells in their acute eliminative\nefforts.\n\nHomeopathic medication, therefore, is not only curative in its\neffects, but also conservative and in the highest degree economic.\n\nHomeopathy, a Complement of Nature Cure\n\nHaving proved the accuracy of Hahnemann's Law of ~similia similibus\ncurantur,~ and having occasion daily to observe its practical\nresults in the treatment of acute and chronic diseases, we should\nnot be justified in omitting homeopathy from our system of\ntreatment. The attenuated homeopathic doses of certain drugs may be\nof great service in bringing about the acute reactions which we so\nearnestly desire, especially in the treatment of chronic diseases of\nlong standing.\n\nI am aware of the fact that in severe and obstinate conditions\nhomeopathy is often apparently of no avail. But when the system has\nbeen purified and strengthened by our natural methods, by a rational\nvegetarian diet, hydrotherapy, chiropractic or osteopathy, massage,\ncorrective exercise, air and sun baths, normal suggestion, etc., the\nhomeopathic remedies will work with much greater promptitude and\neffectiveness.\n\nIt is the combination of all the different healing factors which\nconstitutes the perfect system of treatment.\n\nNo disease condition, whether apparently hopeless or not, can be\ncalled incurable unless all these different healing factors,\nproperly combined and applied, have been given a thorough trial. It\nis no charlatanic boasting, but the simple truth, when we affirm\nthat the different natural methods of treatment, as we of the Nature\nCure school apply them, can and do cure so-called incurable\ndiseases, such as tuberculosis, cancer, locomotor ataxy, epilepsy,\neczema, neurasthenia, insanity and the worst forms of chronic\ndyspepsia and constipation, always providing that the patient\npossesses sufficient vitality to react to the treatment and that the\ndestruction of vital parts and organs has not advanced too far.\n\n\n\nChapter XVI\n\n\nThe Diphtheria Antitoxin\n\n\nIn this country the antitoxin treatment for diplitheria is still in\nhigh favor, while in Germany, where it originated, many of the best\nmedical authorities are abandoning its use on account of its\ndoubtful curative results and certain destructive after-effects.\n\nAccording to the enthusiastic advocates of this treatment among the\n\"regular\" physicians in this country, the antitoxin is a \"certain\ncure\" for diphtheria; but how is this claim borne out by actual\nfacts?\n\nThe Health Bulletins sent regularly to every physician in the City\nof Chicago by the City Health Department show an average of from\nfifteen to twenty deaths every week from diphtheria treated with\nantitoxin.\n\nI do not deny that the antitoxin treatment may have reduced somewhat\nthe mortality percentage of this disease, allowing even for the\ngreat uncertainty of medical statistics. But we of the Nature Cure\nschool claim and can prove that the hydropathic treatment of\ndiphtheria shows a much lower percentage of mortality than the\nantitoxin treatment.\n\nThe crucial point to be considered in this connection is: What are\nthe after-effects of the different methods of treatment?\n\nThis is a very important matter. I make the following claims:\nthat the antitoxin, being itself a most powerful poison, may be and\noften is the direct cause of paralysis, or of death due to\nheart-failure. That diphtheria treated with antitoxin may be and\noften is followed by paralysis, heart-failure, or lifelong\ninvalidism of some kind after the patient has apparently recovered\nfrom the disease. That these undesirable after-effects of diphtheria\ndo not occur when the disease is treated by natural methods, but\nthat they are the result of the antitoxin treatment and of its\nsuppressive effect upon. the disease.\n\nTo prove my claims, I submit the following facts: I have in my\npossession clippings from newspapers from different parts of the\ncountry stating that death had followed the administration of the\ndiphtheria antitoxin for prevention or \"immunization,\" that is,\nwhere the individual had been in good health at the time the\nantitoxin was given.\n\nSeveral cases of this kind created quite a sensation in Germany\nabout fifteen years ago. Dr. Robert Langerhans, superintendent of\nthe Moabit Hospital in Berlin, a strong advocate of the antitoxin\ntreatment and also of vaccination, had been one of a committee of\nthree appointed by the municipal government of the German metropolis\nto investigate the efficiency of the diphtheria antitoxin. As a\nresult of his findings, he had recommended its free distribution to\nthe poor of the City of Berlin.\n\nNot long thereafter the doctor's cook was suddenly taken ill with\nsevere pains in the throat and sent to the hospital. It was thought\nto be a case of diphtheria, and the doctor, to protect his little\nson, one and one-half years old, against possible infection,\nadministered an injection of antitoxin. Shortly afterward the child\ndeveloped symptoms of blood-poisoning and died of heart-failure\nwithin twenty-four hours.\n\nIt is customary in Germany to insert a death-notice in one of the\nlocal newspapers and to invite the friends of the family to the\nfuneral. In his announcement in the columns of the \"Lokalanzeiger,\"\nDr. Langerhans stated explicitly that his little son had died after\nan injection of diphtheria antitoxin for immunization.\n\nAnother similar case is that of Dr. Pistor, a prominent Berlin\nphysician, whose little daughter contracted a slight inflammation of\nthe throat. The child was given an injection of antitoxin, and this\nwas followed by a severe and protracted illness.\n\nVery significant, in this connection, are certain utterances of Dr.\nWilliam Osler in his \"Practice of Medicine.\" He says, on page 150:\n\n\" Of the sequelae of diphtheria, paralysis is by far the most\nimportant. This can be experimentally produced in animals by the\ninoculation of the toxic material produced by the bacilli. [This is\nthe active principle in the antitoxin. Author's note] The paralysis\noccurs in a variable proportion of the cases, ranging from 10 to 15\nand even to 20 per cent. It is strictly a sequel of the disease [of\nthe disease treated with antitoxin?--Author's note], coming on\nusually in the second or third week of convalescence. . . . It may\nfollow very mild cases; indeed, the local lesion may be so trifling\nthat the onset of the paralysis alone calls attention to the true\nnature of the disease. . . .\n\n\"The disease is a toxic neuritis, due to the absorption of the\npoison. . . .\n\n\"Of the local paralysis the most common is that which affects the\npalate. . . . Of other local forms perhaps the most common are\nparalysis of the eye muscles. . . . Heart symptoms are not uncommon.\n. . . Heart-failure and fatal syncope (death) may occur at the\nheight of the disease or during convalescence, even as late as the\nsixth or seventh week after apparent recovery.\"\n\nIt appears to me that the mystery of these \"sequelae\" can easily be\nexplained. It is certain that a mere \"sore throat,\" not serious\nenough to be diagnosed as diphtheria, cannot produce paralysis or\nheart-failure; but we know positively that the antitoxin can do it\nand does do it. The cases that Dr. Osler refers to undoubtedly\nreceived the antitoxin treatment, because it is administered on the\nslightest suspicion of diphtheria, nay, even to perfectly healthy\npersons \"for purposes of immunization.\"\n\nThen is it not most likely that these \"mysterious after-effects\" are\ncaused rather by the highly poisonous antitoxin than by the \"sore\nthroat?\"\n\nIn my own practice, I am frequently consulted by chronic patients\nwhose troubles date back to diphtheria \"cured\" by antitoxin. Among\nthese I have met with several cases of idiocy and insanity, with\nmany cases of partial paralysis, infantile paralysis, and nervous\ndisorders of a most serious nature, also with various other forms of\nchronic destructive diseases.\n\nIn the iris of the eye, the effect of the antitoxin on the system\nshows as a darkening of the color. In many instances, the formerly\nblue or light-brown iris assumes an ashy-gray or brownish-gray hue.\n\nMy secretary who is taking this dictation and who has brown eyes,\ntells me that her mother informed her that up to her tenth year her\neyes had been of a clear blue. About that time she had several\nattacks of diphtheria and a severe \"second\" attack of scarlet fever,\nwhich were treated and \"cured\" under the care of an allopathic\nphysician. She does not remember whether she was given antitoxin,\nbut recalls that her throat was painted and her body rubbed with\noil, and that she had to take a great deal of medicine. Since that\ntime her eyes have turned brown. They show plainly the rust-brown\nspots of iodine in the areas of the brain, the throat, and other\nparts of the body.\n\nThe effect upon the iris of the eye would be very much the same\nwhether the attacks of diphtheria had been suppressed by antitoxin\nor by the old-time drug treatment. A significant fact in this\nconnection is that, since Mrs. C. is with us, following natural\nmethods of living and under the effects of the treatments which she\nhas been taking regularly for several months, her eyes have become\nmuch lighter and in places the original blue is visible under the\nbrown. The nerve rings in the region of the brain, which were very\nmarked when she came to us, have become less defined. There is a\ncorresponding improvement in her general health, and especially in\nthe condition of her nerves.\n\nIn regard to my claim that undesirable after-effects do not occur\nunder treatment by natural methods, I wish again to call attention\nto the fact that for fifty years the Nature Cure physicians in\nGermany have proved that hydropathic treatment of diphtheria is not\nfollowed by paralysis, heart-failure, or the different forms of\nchronic, destructive diseases.\n\nThis has been confirmed by my own experience in the treatment of\ndiphtheria and other serious acute ailments.\n\nA Reply to My Critics\n\nMy discussions of the germ-theory of disease and of the vaccine,\nserum, and antitoxin treatment in a series of articles entitled:\n\"Harmonies of the Physical\" and published in \"Life and Action\"\ncalled forth a great deal of adverse criticism from physicians of\nthe regular school of medicine. The following paragraphs are\nextracts from a letter sent by one of these critics to the editor of\nthe above-named magazine:\n\n\" . . . I am convinced that some statements have been published in\nthis particular issue [October-Decemher, 1912] which have no proper\nplace in this magazine, the earnest champion of the cause of Truth\nand the official organ of expression of the U. S. headquarters of\nthe movement which you evidently have at heart.\"\n\nDr. E. then refers to certain passages in my article in the\nOctober-December, 1912, number of \"Life and Action,\" and comments\nupon them by quoting Drs. Osler and Andrews in favor of the\nantitoxin treatment in diphtheria and by giving his own opinion on\nthe subject. He concludes his arguments as follows:\n\n\"I am a subscriber to this magazine and have also had my sister's\nname put on the mailing list. She has a little boy about two years\nold. Now, suppose she should read that article of Dr. Lindlahr's,\nand as a result, refuse to permit the use of antitoxin, and if the\nboy should get diphtheria, with a fatal issue as a result, I could\nhardly feel gratified over the fact that I had placed that\nreading-matter at her disposal. I fully appreciate the fact that\nsuch an unhappy result might easily ensue in some one or more of the\nfamilies who read 'Life and Action' and look upon its columns as a\nsource of the truly higher light.\"\n\nPerhaps Dr. E. has not read one of Dr. Osler's latest and strongest\nutterances, his unqualified endorsement of natural methods of\nhealing in the Encyclopedia Americana, quoted on page 154 of this\nvolume.\n\nNature Cure in Germany\n\nThat it is possible to cure all kinds of serious acute diseases by\ndrugless methods of healing, has been proved by the Nature Cure\npractitioners in Germany, nearly all of whom were laymen who had\nnever visited a medical school. For over half a century, many\nthousands of them have been practicing the art of healing in all\nparts of Germany. With hydrotherapy and the other natural methods\nthey have treated successfully typhoid fever. diphtheria, smallpox,\nappendicitis, cerebro-spinal meningitis and all other acute\ndiseases.\n\nIt is a significant fact that, in spite of the most strenuous\nopposition and appeal to the law-making powers on the part of the\nregular school of medicine, the lay doctors could not be prevented\nfrom practicing the natural methods of treatment in law-and\npolice-ridden Germany.\n\nOn the contrary, during the last few generations there have been\npracticing in Germany at all times an ever increasing number of\nNature Cure physicians, most of them laymen.\n\nThis freedom of Nature Cure practice in Germany is entirely due to\nthe success of its methods.\n\nAnd this success has been demonstrated in spite of all kinds of\nopposition and attempted restriction. While the Nature Cure\npractitioner is permitted to treat those who come to him for relief,\nhe does not have the right to cover his mistakes with six feet of\nearth. If one of his patients dies, a doctor of the regular school\nof medicine has to be called in to testify to the fact and issue the\ndeath-certificate.\n\nThus the \"lay doctors,\" the \"Nature Cure physicians,\" were and are\nat present constantly exposed to the strictest critical supervision\nby the \"regulars,\" and if the latter can prove that a patient has\ndied because the natural methods were inefficient or harmful, the\nlay practitioner can be prosecuted for and convicted of malpractice\nor man-slaughter.\n\nBut in point of fact, while a number of these lay physicians were\nbrought before the courts, in no instance could the actual\nharmfulness of the methods employed by them be proven. The natural\nmethods of treatment became so popular that, as a matter of\nself-preservation, the younger generation of physicians in Germany\nhad to fall in line with the Nature Cure idea in their practice.\n\nSince Dr. E. so strongly questions the efficacy of our methods, I\nmay be permitted to say something about my own professional\nexperience.\n\nNature Cure in America\n\nDuring the last ten years, I have treated and cured all kinds of\nserious acute diseases without resorting to allopathic drugs. In a\nvery extensive practice, I have not in all these years lost a single\ncase of appendicitis (and not one of them was operated upon), of\ntyphoid fever, diphtheria, smallpox, scarlet fever, etc., and only\none case of cerebro-spinal meningitis and of lobar pneumonia. These\nfacts may be verified from the records of the Health Department of\nthe City of Chicago.\n\nAfter the foregoing statements, I leave it to my readers to judge\nwhether the Nature Cure philosophy is inspired by blind fanaticism\nand based upon ignorance and inexperience, or whether it is\njustified in the light of scientific facts advanced by the Regular\nSchool of Medicine itself and demonstrated by the wonderful success\nof the Nature Cure movement in Germany, which in its different forms\nhas attained world-wide recognition and adoption.\n\nThere is a popular saying: \"The proof of the pudding is in the\neating.\" The following letter will explain itself:\n\nJanuary 20, 1913.\n\nDear Dr. Lindlahr:--\n\nYou may remember that last winter, Mrs. White and I attended your\nSunday afternoon lectures in the Schiller Building. Those lectures\nwere an education--I might better say a revelation and an\ninspiration.\n\nOn the 11th of November last, our boy, aged thirteen years, was\ntaken ill with diphtheria. I called at your office and asked your\nadvice. You replied: \"You know what to do--wet packs, no food except\nfruit juices, osteopathic treatment and no antitoxin.\"\n\nWe called an osteopathic physician, who at once sent a specimen from\nthe boy's throat to the city laboratory, where it was pronounced\ndiphtheria. A physician from the Board of Health came and\nquarantined us and inquired if we had used the antitoxin treatment.\nWhen Mrs. White replied \"No,\" he said: \"I suppose you know that the\npercentage of deaths of those who do not have it is very high.\" She\nsaid: \"Yes, I know, but we do not intend to use it.\"\n\nThe boy had all the acute symptoms, was drowsy, with headache, and\non the second day his temperature went to 105 degrees. We applied\nthe wet body pack and by night had reduced his temperature to 100\ndegrees. With the aid of the osteopathic treatment, which he had\neach night, the boy slept well all through big illness. On the fifth\nday, the membrane spread from his throat to his nose, and his\ntemperature rose again; but the wet body packs again reduced it so\nthat it was never again over 100 degrees.\n\nThe boy was bright, his mind was clear, he was able to read, and\nafter the first week was able to play chess with his mother. The\nonly unfavorable symptom he had at all was an irregular pulse. He\ntook no medicine and no food except fruit juices. We used\noccasionally the warm water enema. On the tenth day he took a little\nlamb broth, but refused it the next day, and again asked for fruit\njuices. It was not until two weeks had passed that his appetite\nreturned and he began to eat. He lost flesh, but did not lose\nstrength in the same degree--he was able to go to the bathroom each\nday unaided.\n\nOn the 21st day, the osteopathic physician sent a specimen to the\ncity laboratory which they pronounced \"positive,\" and the city\nphysician found it necessary to take as many as four or five\nadditional specimens before he pronounced him free from the\ndiphtheria germ. The boy was not released from quarantine until five\nweeks had passed.\n\nDuring all this time his only attendant was his mother and the\nosteopathic physician who came daily. The boy has fully recovered\nand has suffered no bad results that often follow such diseases.\n\nIn contrast to this experience of ours, I would like to cite the\ncase of a neighbor of ours whose little girl died of the disease\nunder the antitoxin treatment. She recovered from the diphtheria,\nbut her heart failed and she died suddenly. They had a regular M. D.\nand a trained nurse. Her mother took ill, but recovered. The father\ntold me that their drug bill alone amounted to $75.\n\nWe want to express to you our gratitude for the knowledge and\nconfidence that you have so freely given to us, and you are at\nliberty to make whatever use of this letter that you desire.\n\nSincerely yours,\n\nHINTON WHITE\n\n1443 Cuyler Ave., Chicago, Ill.\n\nThis letter proves that my claims and assertions regarding the\ncurability of diphtheria by natural methods are not extravagant or\nuntrue. In this case, as in many others, I gave directions for\ntreatment verbally and over the telephone without having seen the\npatient personally.\n\nI am convinced, furthermore, that this patient would have made just\nas good a recovery without the osteopathic treatment. I recommended\nthe attendance of an osteopathic physician in order to ease the\nburden of responsibility on the part of the parents. If the child\nhad died, they would have been blamed by friends and relatives for\ntheir seeming foolhardiness.\n\nThe experience of Mr. White's neighbor is another proof of the fatal\neffect of the antitoxin treatment. The antitoxin \"cured\" the\ndiphtheria, but-the child died!\n\nOnce more I repeat: The hydropathic treatment will give equally good\nresults in appendicitis, meningitis, scarlet fever, and all other\nforms of acute diseases. If this be a fact, why should not my\ncolleagues of the Regular School of Medicine give the hydropathic\nmethod a fair trial, the more so since in Germany, even among the\nphysicians of the Regular School, hydropathy as a remedy is fast\nsuperseding antitoxin! Is it not worth while when the \"mysterious\nsequelae\" referred to by Dr. Osler, and the many cases of chronic\ninvalidism which he does not connect with the disease or its\ntreatment, might thus be avoided?\n\n\n\nChapter XVII\n\n\nVaccination\n\n\nThe pernicious aftereffects of vaccination upon the system are\nsimilar to those of the various serum and antitoxin treatments.\n\nJenner, an English barber and chiropodist, is usually credited with\nthe discovery of vaccination. The doubtful honor, however, belongs\nin reality to an old Circassian woman who, according to the\nhistorian Le Duc, in the year 1672 startled Constantinople with the\nannouncement that the Virgin Mary had revealed to her an unfailing\npreventive against the smallpox.\n\nHer specific was inoculation with the genuine smallpox virus. But\neven with her the idea was not an original one, because the\nprinciple of isopathy (curing a disease with its own disease\nproducts) was explicitly taught a hundred years before that by\nParacelsus, the great genius of the Renaissance of learning of the\nMiddle Ages. But even he was only voicing the secret teachings of\nancient folklore, sympathy healing and magic dating back to the\nDruids and Seers of ancient Britain and Germany.\n\nThe Circassian seeress cut a cross in the flesh of people and\ninoculated this wound with the smallpox virus. Together with this\nshe prescribed prayer, abstinence from meat and fasting for forty\ndays.\n\nAs at that time smallpox was a terrible and widespread scourge, the\npractice of inoculation was carried all over Europe. At first the\noperation was performed by women and laymen; but when vaccination\nbecame popular and people were willing to pay for it, the doctors\nbegan to incorporate it into their regular practice.\n\nPopular superstitions run a very similar course to epidemics. They\nhave a period of inception, of virulence and of abatement. As germs\nand bacteria become inactive and die a natural death in their own\npoisonous excreta, so popular superstitions die as a natural result\nof their own falsities and exaggerations.\n\nIt soon became evident that inoculation with the virus did not\nprevent smallpox, but, on the contrary, frequently caused it; and\ntherefore the practice gradually fell into disuse, only to be\nrevived by Jenner about one hundred years later in a modified form.\nHe substituted cowpox virus for smallpox virus.\n\nModern allopathy, in applying the isopathic principle, gives large\nand poisonous doses of virus, lymph, serums and antitoxins, while\nhomeopathy, as did ancient mysticism, applies the isopathic remedies\nin highly diluted and triturated doses only.\n\nFrom England vaccination gradually spread over the civilized world\nand during the nineteenth century the smallpox disease (variola)\nconstantly diminished in virulence and frequency until today it has\nbecome of comparatively rare occurrence.\n\n\"Therefore vaccination has exterminated smallpox,\" say the disciples\nof Jenner.\n\nIs that really so? Is vaccination actually a preventive of smallpox?\nThis seems very doubtful when the advocates of vaccination\nthemselves do not believe it. \"What,\" I hear them say, \"we do not\nbelieve in our own theory?\" Evidently you do not, my friends. If you\nbelieve that vaccination protects you against smallpox, why are you\nafraid of catching it from those who are not vaccinated? If you are\nthoroughly protected, as you claim to be, how can you catch the\ndisease from those who are not protected? Why do you not allow the\nother fellow to have his fill of smallpox and then enjoy a good\nlaugh on him? The fact of the matter is you know full well that you\nare not safe, that you can catch the disease just as readily as the\nunprotected.\n\nGerman statistics are more reliable than those of any other country.\nIn the years of 1870-71 smallpox was rampant in the Fatherland. Over\n1,000,000 persons had the disease, and 120,000 died. Ninety-six\npercent of these had been vaccinated and only four percent had not\nbeen protected. Most of the victims were vaccinated, once at least,\nshortly before they took the disease.\n\nIn 1888 Bismarck sent an address to the governments of all the\nGerman states in which it was admitted that numerous eczematous\ndiseases, even those of an epidemic nature, were directly\nattributable to vaccination and that the origin and cure of smallpox\nwere still unsolved problems.\n\nIn this message to the various legislatures the great statesman\nsaid: \"The hopes placed in the efficacy of the cowpox virus as a\npreventive of smallpox have proved entirely deceptive.\"\n\nRealizing this to be a fact, most of the German governments have\nmodified or entirely relinquished their compulsory vaccination laws.\n\n\"But,\" our opponents insist, \"you cannot deny that smallpox has\ngreatly diminished since the almost universal adoption of\nvaccination.\"\n\nCertainly the disease has diminished. But so have diminished and, in\nfact, nearly disappeared the plague, the Black Death, cholera, the\nbubonic plague, yellow fever and numerous other epidemic pests which\nonly recently decimated entire nations.\n\nNot one of these epidemics was treated by vaccination. Why, then,\ndid they abate and practically disappear?\n\nNot vaccination, but the more universal adoption of soap, bathtubs,\nall kinds of sanitary measures, such as plumbing, drainage,\nventilation and more hygienic modes of living generally have subdued\nsmallpox as well as all other plagues.\n\nMany of us remember how the yellow fever raged in Havanna during the\nSpanish occupancy. Within two months after the energetic Yankees\ntook possession and gave the filthy city a good scouring, yellow\nfever had entirely disappeared--without any yellow fever\nvaccination.\n\nThe question is now in order why, of all the dreaded plagues of the\npast, smallpox alone survives to this day.\n\nThe answer is: on account of vaccination. If scrofulous and\nsyphilitic poisons were not artificially kept alive in human blood\nby vaccination, smallpox would by this time be as rare as cholera\nand yellow fever.\n\nThanks to the oft-repeated compulsory vaccination of every citizen,\nyoung and old, we as a nation have become saturated with the\nsmallpox virus. Is it any wonder that every once in a while this\nlatent taint breaks out in acute epidemics?\n\nUndoubtedly, the almost universal systematic contamination and\ndegeneration of vital fluids and tissues, not alone with vaccine\nvirus, but also with many other filthy serums, antitoxins and drug\npoisons, account in a large measure for the steady increase of\ntuberculosis, cancer, insanity and a multitude of other chronic\ndestructive diseases unknown among primitive people that have not\ncome in contact with the blessings (?) of vaccination.\n\nBy weakening the system's reactionary powers against one disease,\nits reactionary powers against all diseases are weakened. In other\nwords, creating in the body a form of chronic smallpox by means of\nvaccination favors the development of all kinds of chronic diseases.\n\nQuit sowing the seed, gentlemen, and you will cease reaping the\nharvest. By the mercurial suppression of syphilis and by means of\nvaccination you are perpetuating smallpox.\n\nWhat has syphilis to do with smallpox? They are very closely\nrelated, and similar in appearance, symtomatology and in their\neffects upon the organism.\n\nA German physician, Dr. Cruwell, who studied the subject thoroughly,\nsays: \"Every vaccination with so-called cowpox virus means\nsyphilitic infection. Cowpox is not a disease peculiar to cattle; it\nis always due to syphilitic or smallpox infection from the diseased\nhands of human beings. Cowpox pustules have been found only on the\nudders of milk cows which came in contact with human hands. Cattle\nroaming in pasture and prairie have never been affected by cowpox,\nnor have domesticated steers and oxen. If this disease were a\ndisorder peculiar to cattle, both sexes would be equally affected.\nJenner's cowpox was caused by the diseased hands of the syphilitic\nmilkmaid, Sarah Nehnes.\"\n\nVaccination of healthy children and adults is often followed by a\nmultitude of symptoms which cannot be distinguished from syphilis,\nviz., characteristic ulcers and eczematous eruptions, swellings of\nthe axillary and other lymphatic glands, atrophy of the mammary\nglands in the breasts of women and of girls above the age of\npuberty, etc.\n\nThis explains the constantly growing demand for \"bust foods\" and\n\"bust developers.\" A perfectly developed bust has become so rare\nthat many hundreds of beauty doctors and of business concerns that\nmake a specialty of developing the flat-bosomed realize thousands of\ndollars annually. One firm in this city, and a small concern at\nthat, has made from $2,500 to $5,000 a year and has over ten\nthousand names on its constantly increasing list of patrons.\n\nIt is reasonable to assume that almost without exception these ten\nthousand women had been vaccinated from one to three times before\nthe age of puberty. When this is realized, and the fact that\nvaccination dries up the mammary glands is taken into account, is it\nnot time to pause and consider?\n\nThe figures of this one small concern represent the report of only\none out of several hundred such firms doing business in all parts of\nthe country.\n\nSome years ago, a disease similar to smallpox broke out among the\nsheep in certain parts of Scotland. As a preventive, the sheep were\nvaccinated. In the course of a few years it was noticed that a great\nmany ewes were unable to nourish their lambs. With the\ndiscontinuance of vaccination this phenomenon disappeared.\n\nDoes this help to explain why nowadays over fifty percent of human\nmothers are incapable of nursing their babies?\n\nLooking Forward\n\nAt present the trend of allopathic medical science is undoubtedly\ntoward the serum, antitoxin and vaccine treatment. Practically all\nmedical research tends that way. Every few days we see in the daily\npapers reports of new serums and antitoxins which are claimed to\ncure or create immunity to certain diseases.\n\nSuppose the research and practice of medical science continue along\nthese lines and are generally accepted or, as the medical\nassociations would have it, forced upon the public by law. What\nwould be the result? Before a child reached the years of\nadolescence, it would have had injected into its blood the vaccines,\nserums, and antitoxins of smallpox, hydrophobia, tetanus (lockjaw),\ncerebro-spinal meningitis, typhoid fever, diphtheria, pneumonia,\nscarlet fever, etc.\n\nIf allopathy were to have its way, the blood of the adult would be a\nmixture of dozens of filthy bacterial extracts, disease taints and\ndestructive drug poisons. The tonsils and adenoids, the appendix\nvermiformis and probably a few other parts of the human anatomy\nwould be extirpated in early youth under compulsion of the health\ndepartments.\n\nWhat is more rational and sensible: the endeavor to produce immunity\nto disease by making the human body the breeding ground for all\nsorts of antibacteria and antipoisons, or to create natural immunity\nby building up the blood on a normal basis, purifying the body of\nmorbid matter and poisons, correcting mechanical lesions and by\ncultivating the right mental attitude? Which one of these methods is\nmore likely to be disease-building, which health-building?\n\nJust imagine what human blood will be like in coming generations if\nthis artificial contamination with all sorts of disease taints and\ndrug poisons is to be forced upon the people!\n\n\n\nChapter XVIII\n\n\nSurgery\n\n\nThe discoverers of anesthetics are classed among the greatest\nbenefactors of humanity, because it is believed that ether,\nchloroform, cocaine and similar nerve-paralyzing agents have greatly\nlessened the sum of human suffering. I doubt, however, that this is\ntrue.\n\nAnesthetics have made surgery technically easy and have done away\nwith the pain caused directly by the incisions; but on the other\nhand, these marvelous effects of pain-killing drugs have encouraged\nindiscriminate and unnecessary operations to such an extent that at\nleast nine-tenths of all the surgical operations performed today are\nuncalled for. In most instances these ill-advised mutilations are\nfollowed by lifelong weakness and suffering, which far outweigh the\ntemporary pains formerly endured when unavoidable operations were\nperformed without the use of anesthesia.\n\nWe do not wish to be understood as condemning unqualifiedly any and\nall surgical interventions in the treatment of human ailments. An\noperation may occasionally be absolutely necessary as a means of\nsaving life. Surgery is also indicated in cases of injury, such as\nwounds or fractured bones, in certain obstetrical complications and\nin other affections of a purely mechanical nature.\n\nIn all such cases anesthetics prevent much suffering which cannot be\navoided in any other way. But anyone who has had an opportunity to\nwatch the prolonged misery of the victims of un-called-for\noperations will not doubt that anesthesia has been a two-edged sword\nwhich has inflicted many more wounds than it has healed.\n\nMany physicians have recognized more or less distinctly the\nuselessness and harmfulness of \"Old School\" medical treatment.\nDissatisfied and disgusted with old-fashioned drugging, they turn to\nsurgery, convinced that in it they possess an exact scientific\nmethod of curing ailments. They seem to think that the surest way to\ncure a diseased organ is to remove it with the knife--fine reasoning\nfor school boys, but not worthy of men of science.\n\nI, for my part, cannot understand how an organ can be cured after it\nhas been extirpated and, preserved in alcohol, adorns the specimen\ncabinet of the surgeon.\n\nDestruction or Cure--Which Is Better?\n\n\"But,\" the surgeon says, \"we do not remove organs from the body\nunless they have become useless.\"\n\nHowever, this claim is not borne out by actual facts. During the\npast ten years thousands of patients have come under our\ntreatment, both in the sanitarium and in the downtown offices, whose\nfamily physicians had declared that in order to save their lives\nthey must submit to the knife without delay. With very few\nexceptions these people were cured by us without using a poisonous\ndrug, an antiseptic or a knife.\n\nSeveral women who, years ago, were confronted with removal of the\novaries, are today the joyful mothers of children. Many of our\nformer patients, who were treated by \"Old School\" physicians for\nacute or chronic appendicitis and were strongly urged to have the\noffending organ removed, are today alive and well and still in\npossession of their vermiform appendices. Other patients were\nthreatened with operations for kidney, gall and bladder stones;\nfibroid and other tumors; floating kidneys; stomach troubles;\nintestinal and uterine disorders, not to mention the multitude of\nchildren whose tonsils and adenoids were to have been removed. All\nof these onetime surgical cases have escaped the knife and are doing\nvery well indeed with their bodies intact and in possession of the\nfull quota of organs given them by Nature.\n\nIs it not better to cure a diseased organ than to remove it? Nature\nCure proves every day that the better way is at the same time the\neasiest way.\n\nThousands of men and women operated upon for some local ailment\nwhich could have been cured easily by natural methods of treatment\nare condemned by these inexcusable mutilations to lifelong\nsuffering. Many, if not actually suffering pain, have been\nunnecessarily unsexed and in other ways incapacitated for the normal\nfunctions and natural enjoyments of life.\n\nCases of this kind are the most pitiable of all that come under our\nobservation. When we learn that a major operation has been performed\nupon a consultant, our barometer of hope drops considerably. We know\nfrom much experience that the mutilation of the human organism has a\ntendency to lessen the chances of recovery; such patients are nearly\nalways lacking in recuperative power.\n\nA body deprived of important parts or organs is forever unbalanced.\nIt is like a watch with a spring or a wheel taken out; it may run,\nbut never quite right; it is hypersensitive and easily thrown out of\nbalance by any adverse influence.\n\nThe Human Body Is a Unit\n\nWe are realizing more and more that the human body is a homogeneous\nand harmonious whole, and that we cannot injure one part of it\nwithout damaging other parts and often the entire organism. Cutting\nin the vital organs means cutting in the brain. It affects the\nfunctions of the nervous system most profoundly.\n\nA physician in Vienna has written a very interesting book in which\nhe shows that the inner membranes of the nose are in close\nrelationship and sympathy with distant parts and organs of the body.\nHe located in the nose one small area which corresponds to the\nlungs. By irritating this area with an electric needle he could\nprovoke asthmatic attacks in patients subject to this disease. By\nanesthetizing the same area he could stop immediately severe attacks\nof asthma and of coughing. Another area in the nasal cavity\ncorresponds to the genital organs. The doctor proved that by\nelectric irritation applied to this area abortions could be\nproduced, and that by anesthesia of the same area in the nose,\nuterine hemorrhages could be stopped.\n\nThese and many other facts of experience throw a wonderful light\nupon the unity of the human organism. The body resembles a watch.\nYou cannot injure one part of it without affecting its entire\nmechanism.\n\nThe evil aftereffects of surgical operations do not always manifest\nat once. On the contrary, the surgical treatment is frequently\nfollowed by a period of seeming improvement. The troublesome local\nsymptoms have been removed, and aftereffects of the mutilation have\nnot had time to assert themselves. But sooner or later the old\nsymptoms return in aggravated form, or a new set of complications\narises. The patient is made to believe that the first operation was\na perfect success and that this latest crop of difficulties has\nnothing to do with the former, but is something entirely new. At\nother times he is assured that the first operation did not go deep\nenough, that it failed to reach the seat of the trouble and must be\ndone over again.\n\nAnd so the work of mutilation goes merrily on. The disease poisons\nin the body set up one center of inflammation after another. These\ncenters the surgeon promptly removes; but the real disease, the\nvenereal, psoriatic or scrofulous taint, the uric or oxalic acid,\nthe poisonous alkaloids and ptomaines affecting every cell and every\ndrop of blood in the body, these elude the surgeon's knife and\ncreate new ulcers, abscesses, inflammations, stones, cancers, etc.,\nas fast as the old ones are extirpated.\n\nThose who have studied the previous chapters carefully will readily\ncomprehend these facts. They will know that acute and subacute\nconditions represent Nature's cleansing and healing efforts, and\nthat local suppression by drug or knife only serves to turn Nature's\ncorrective and purifying activities into chronic disease.\n\nThe highest art of the true physician is to preserve and to restore,\nnot to mutilate or destroy.\n\n\n\nChapter XIX\n\n\nChronic Diseases\n\n\nThe \"Old School\" of medical science defines acute diseases as those\nwhich run a brief and more or less violent course and chronic\ndiseases as those which run a protracted course and have a tendency\nto recur.\n\nNature Cure attaches a broader and more significant meaning to these\nterms. This will have become apparent from our discussion of the\ncauses, the progressive development and the purpose of acute\ndiseases in the preceding pages.\n\nFrom the Nature Cure viewpoint, the chronic condition is the latent,\nconstitutional disease encumbrance, whereas acute disease represents\nNature's efforts to rectify abnormal conditions, to overcome and\neliminate hereditary or acquired morbid taints and systemic poisons\nand to reestablish normal structure and functions.\n\nTo use an illustration: In a case of permanent or recurrent itchy\npsoriasis, the \"Old School\" physician would look upon the itchy skin\neruption as the chronic disease, while we should see in the external\neczema an attempt of the healing forces of Nature to remove from the\nsystem the inner, latent hereditary or acquired psora, which\nconstitutes the real chronic disease.\n\nIt stands to reason that the exterior eruptions should not be\nsuppressed by any means whatever, but that the only true and really\neffective method of treatment consists in eliminating from the\norganism the inner, latent psoric taint. After this is accomplished,\nthe external \"skin disease\" will disappear of its own accord.\n\nAs another illustration of the radical difference in our respective\npoints of view, let us take hemorrhoids (piles). The regular\nphysician considers the local hemorrhoidal enlargements in\nthemselves the chronic disease, while the Nature Cure practitioner\nlooks upon hemorrhoids as Nature's effort to rid the system of\ncertain morbid encumbrances and poisons which have accumulated as a\nresult of sluggish circulation, chronic constipation, defective\nelimination through kidneys, lungs, and skin and from many other\ncauses.\n\nThese constitutional abnormalities, which are the real chronic\ndisease, have to be treated and corrected. After this has been done,\nthe hemorrhoidal enlargements and discharges will take care of\nthemselves.\n\nIt is, therefore, absolutely irrational, and frequently followed by\nthe most serious consequences, to surgically remove the piles or to\nsuppress the hemorrhoidal discharges and thereby to drive these\nconcentrated poison extracts back into the system.\n\nIn a number of cases we have traced paralysis, insanity,\ntuberculosis, cancer and other forms of chronic destructive diseases\nto the forcible suppression of hemorrhoids.\n\nChronic disease, from the viewpoint of Nature Cure philosophy, means\nthat the organism has become permeated with morbid matter and\npoisons to such an extent that it is no longer able to throw off\nthese encumbrances by a vigorous, acute eliminative effort. The\nchronic condition, therefore, represents the slow, cold type of\ndisease, characterized by feeble, ineffectual efforts to eliminate\nthe latent morbid taints and impediments from the system. These\nefforts may take the form of open sores, skin eruptions, catarrhal\ndischarges, chronic diarrhea, etc.\n\nIf acute diseases are treated in harmony with Nature's laws, they\nwill leave the body in a purer, healthier condition. But if the\ntreatment is wrong, if under the \"Old School\" methods fever and\ninflammation (Nature's methods of elimination) are checked and\nsuppressed with poisonous drugs, serums and antitoxins or if,\ninstead of purifying and invigorating cells and tissues, the\naffected parts and organs are removed with the surgeon's knife,\nNature is not allowed to get rid of the disease matter, and the\npoisonous taints and morbid encumbrances remain in the organism.\n\nIn this way originate the worst forms of chronic diseases which now\nafflict civilized races.\n\nThe truth of this assertion is proved by the fact that chronic\ndiseases we know are rare among the primitive peoples of the earth,\nsuch as the early indiginous people of Africa and Australia or the\nEskimos of the arctic regions. They are not found among people who\ndo not use drugs. All the different forms of venereal disease,\nchronic rheumatism, chronic indigestion, etc., are unknown in those\ncountries whose inhabitants live in harmony with Nature. The reason\nis that these people have not learned to suppress Nature's acute\npurifying and healing efforts by poisonous drugs and surgical\noperations.\n\nThe Cell\n\nLet us now study the actual condition of the cells, tissues and\norgans of the body in chronic disease.\n\nWe know that the human body is made up of billions of minute cells\nof living protoplasm. Though these cells are so small that they have\nto be magnified under the microscope several hundred times before we\ncan see them, they are independent living beings which are born,\ngrow, eat, drink, throw off waste matter, multiply, decline and die\njust like the large conglomerate cell which we call Man.\n\nEach one of these little cells has its own business to attend to,\nwhether it be assimilation, elimination, nervous activities and\nfunctions, etc.\n\nIf these little beings are well individually, the man is well. If\nthey are starved or ailing, the entire man is similarly affected.\nThe whole depends upon the parts. In the human body as well as in a\nnation or a city, the welfare of the entire community depends upon\nthe well-being of its individual members.\n\nIf governing bodies would realize and apply these truths, and pay\nmore attention to providing wholesome surroundings and proper\nconditions of living for their subjects, to an adequate supply of\npure food and a normal combination of work and rest, instead of\nconcentrating their best efforts upon restrictive and punitive\nmeasures (allopathic treatment), there would be no social problems\nto solve.\n\nIt is our duty to provide the most favorable conditions of living\nfor the little cells that make up the individual human organism. If\nwe do that, there will be no occasion for disease. Natural immunity\nwill be the result.\n\nHerein lies the vital difference between the attitude of Nature Cure\nand that of the allopathic school toward disease. The latter spends\nall its efforts in fighting the disease symptoms, while the former\nconfines itself to creating health conditions in the habits and\nsurroundings of the patient, from the standpoint that the disease\nsymptoms will then take care of themselves, that they will disappear\non account of nonsupport. It is the application of the injunction\n\"Resist not Evil\" to the treatment of physical disease.\n\nUnder the influence of wrong habits of living and the suppressive\ntreatment of diseases, all forms of waste and morbid matter (the\nfeces of the cells), together with food, drink and drug poisons\naccumulate in the system, affect the cells and obstruct the tiny\nspaces (interstices) between them. These morbid encumbrances impinge\nupon and clog the blood vessels, the nerve channels and the other\ntissues of the body. This is bound to interfere with the normal\nfunctions of the organism, and in time lead to deterioration and\norganic destruction.\n\nIn this connection we wish to call attention to a difference in\nviewpoint between the school of osteopathy and the Nature Cure\nschool. Osteopaths and chiropractors attribute disease almost\nentirely to \"impingement\" (abnormal pressure) upon nerves and blood\nvessels due to dislocations and subluxations of the vertebrae of the\nspine and of other bony structures. They do not take into\nconsideration the impingement upon and obstruction of nerve channels\nand blood vessels all through the system caused by local or general\nencumbrances of the organism with waste matter, morbid products, and\npoisons that have accumulated in cells and tissues.\n\nThe Life of the Cell\n\nEvery individual cell must be supplied with food and with oxygen.\nThese it receives from the red arterial blood. The cells must also\nbe provided with an outlet for their waste products. This is\nfurnished by the venous circulation, which represents the drainage\nsystem of the body. If this drainage is defective, the effect upon\nthe organism is similar to the effect produced upon a house when the\nexcretions and discharges of its inhabitants are allowed to remain\nin it.\n\nFurthermore, every cell must be in unobstructed communication with\nthe nerve currents of the organism. Most important of all, it must\nbe in touch with the sympathetic nervous system through which it\nreceives the Life Force which vivifies and controls all involuntary\nfunctions of the cells and organs in the human body.\n\nEach individual cell must be supplied with nerve fibers which convey\nits sensations and needs to headquarters, the nerve centers in brain\nand spinal cord. Also, each cell must be connected with other nerve\nfilaments which carry impulses from the cranial, spinal and\nsympathetic centers to the cell, governing and directing its\nactivities.\n\nFor instance, if the cell be hungry, thirsty, cold or in pain, it\ntelegraphs these sensations to headquarters in the brain or spinal\ncord and from there directions necessary to comply with the needs of\nthe cell are sent forth in the form of nerve impulses to the centers\ncontrolling the circulation, the food and heat supply, the means of\nprotection, etc.\n\nThis circuit of communication from the cell over the afferent nerves\nto the nerve centers in the brain or spinal cord, and from these\ncenters over the efferent nerves back to the cell or to other cells\nis called the reflex arc.\n\nLet us use an illustration: Suppose the fingers come in close\ncontact with a hot iron. The cells in the finger tips experience a\nsensation of burning pain. At once this sensation is telegraphed\nover the afferent nerves to the nerve centers in the brain or spinal\ncord. In response to this call of distress the command comes back\nover the efferent nerve filaments: \"Withdraw the fingers!\" At the\nsame time the impulse to withdraw the fingers is sent over the motor\nnerves to the muscles and ligaments which control the movements of\nthe hand.\n\nIf the means of communication between the different parts of the\norganism are obstructed or cut off entirely, the individual cell is\nbound to deteriorate and to die, just like a person lost in a barren\nwilderness and cut off from his fellowmen must perish.\n\nIn warfare it is a well-known fact that if one of the contending\narmies succeeds in cutting off the telegraphic communication of the\nother army with its headquarters, the activities of that other army\nare seriously handicapped. So the waste materials in the system, the\ndisease taints, narcotic and alcoholic poisons, etc., obstruct the\nnerve passages, and thus interfere with the functions of the cell by\ncutting off its means of communication.\n\nWhat has been said will serve to elucidate and emphasize the\nnecessity of perfect cleanliness, inside as well as outside of the\nbody. It justifies the dictum of Kuhne, the apostle of Nature Cure:\n\"Cleanliness is Health.\" Anything that in any way interferes with or\nobstructs the circulation of vital fluids and nerve currents in the\nsystem is bound to create the abnormal conditions and functions\nwhich constitute disease.\n\nWhen the morbid encumbrances and obstructions in the organism have\nreached the point where they seriously interfere with the\nnourishment, drainage and nerve supply of the cells, the latter\ncannot perform their activities properly, nor can they rid\nthemselves of the impediment. They may be compared to people who are\nforced to live in bad, unwholesome surroundings and who cannot do\ntheir best work under these unfavorable conditions from which they\ncannot escape.\n\nIn this way originates chronic disease, which means that the cells\nhave become incapable of arousing themselves to acute eliminative\neffort in the form of inflammatory febrile reactions.\n\nIn my lectures I sometimes liken the cell thus encumbered with\nmorbid matter and poisons to a man buried in a mine under the debris\nof a cave in such a manner that it is impossible for him to free\nhimself of the earth and timbers which are pinning him down. In such\na predicament the man is unable to help himself. His fellow workers\nor his friends must come to his aid and remove the obstructing\nmasses until he can assist them and free himself.\n\nThis is a good illustration of the condition of the cells of the\nbody in chronic disease. They also have become unable to help\nthemselves and need assistance until they can once more arouse\nthemselves to self-help by means of an acute eliminative effort.\n\nWhat can we do to help them? We must endeavor in the first place to\nfurnish the cells with the right nourishment. We must abstain from\neverything that may be injurious to the body in food and drink, so\nas to relieve the cells of all unnecessary work.\n\nWhatever one may think of vegetarianism as a continuous mode of\nliving, a little consideration will make it plain that a rational\nvegetarian diet is the ~sine qua non~ in the cure of chronic\ndiseases. It builds up the blood on a normal basis, excludes all\nfood and drink poisons and thereby gives the organism an opportunity\nto throw off the old accumulations of waste and morbid materials.\n\nIn chronic disease, every drop of blood and every cell of the\norganism is affected. In order to produce a cure, the old tissues\nmust be broken down and removed and new tissues built up. The more\nthorough the change in diet, the greater and more rapid will be the\nchanges for the better in cells and tissues, especially if only pure\nand eliminating foods are used.\n\nFor these reasons it is advisable to omit most red-blooded meat\nwhile under the natural treatment. All animal flesh contains the\nmorbid secretions and other waste products of the animal organism,\nand this means additional work for the cells already overburdened\nwith systemic poisons.\n\nThen we must work for elimination. Cold water applied to the surface\nof the body is the most powerful stimulant to the circulation. It\nactually pumps and pushes the blood through the system. One feels\nthe blood rushing through the arteries and veins with greater force.\n\nThe cold-water treatment makes the skin more alive and active, stirs\nup and accelerates the circulation throughout the system and thus\npromotes the elimination of systemic poisons through the skin.\n\nThis stimulating effect of cold water upon the organism has been\nproved by counting the number of red blood corpuscles in a drop of\nblood before and after the application of the cold \"blitzguss.\" They\nwere found to have doubled in number. That does not mean that in an\ninstant again as many red blood corpuscles had come into existence,\nbut it does mean that before the cold \"guss\" one-half of them were\ndozing lazily in the corners. The cold water stirred them up, forced\nthem into the circulation, made them travel and attend to business.\n\nAnother powerful means to promote elimination is thorough,\nsystematic massage. The kneading, rolling, twisting and clapping\nactually squeezes the stagnant morbid matter and the waste products\nout of the tissues into the circulation, to be carried off through\nthe venous drainage and allows the red blood with its nourishment\nand fresh supply of oxygen to flood the cells and organs.\n\nMassage is also very effective as a means of regulating the blood\nsupply in the system. In every chronic disease there is obstruction\nor congestion in some part of the organism, causing high blood\npressure in the interior of the body and insufficient blood supply\nto the external parts, especially the extremities. Massage\ndistributes the blood quickly and evenly.\n\nOf great importance is osteopathy. All dislocations, luxations and\nsubluxations of bones and ligaments should be corrected by expert\nmanipulation. As a matter of fact, hardly a person can be found\ntoday whose spine is not abnormal in one way or another, just as\nthere is hardly a single normal human eye [as far as iridology\nmarkings are concerned].\n\nManipulative treatment adjusts the lesions of the spine and other\nbony structures, thus removing abnormal pressure upon the nerves and\nblood vessels and establishing a free and abundant flow of nerve and\nblood currents.\n\nAir and light baths, by stimulating the skin in a natural manner to\nincreased activity, also contribute to the attainment of the various\ngood results just described.\n\nNext comes physical exercise. Corrective and curative movements\ncombined with deep breathing promote the combustion (oxidation) of\nmorbid materials and in this way facilitate their elimination from\nthe system.\n\nLife itself is dependent upon breathing. The Life Force enters the\nbody with every breath we draw. Show me a man with well-developed,\nfull-breathing lungs, and I will show you a man with good vitality.\n\nLast but not least among the natural methods of treating the cell in\nchronic disease we mention the right mental and emotional attitude.\nFear, anxiety and all kindred emotions congeal the nerve matter and\nthereby shut off the supply of nerve force. The cells and tissues\nstarve and freeze. On the other hand, the emotions of hope,\nconfidence and cheerfulness relax and open blood vessels and nerve\nchannels and allow the free and unobstructed inflow and circulation\nof vital energy.\n\nThe different methods of natural treatment and their practical\napplication in chronic diseases will be discussed in detail in\nsubsequent chapters.\n\nWhen through natural methods of living and of treatment the morbid\nencumbrances have been removed sufficiently to provide and maintain\nnormal blood supply, better venous drainage and the unobstructed\nflow of the nerve currents, when lesions of the bony structures have\nbeen corrected by skilful adjustment, and when, through right mental\nattitude, a free and abundant inflow of Life Force has been\nestablished, then the cells and tissues of the body become once\nagain able to arouse themselves to an acute eliminative effort, and\nthe organism is ready for a healing crisis.\n\n\n\nChapter XX\n\n\nCrises\n\n\nCrisis in the ordinary sense of the word means change, either for\nbetter or for worse. In its relation to medicine, the term \"crisis\"\nhas been defined as \"a decisive change in the disease, resulting\neither in recovery or in death.\"\n\nWe of the Nature Cure school distinguish between healing crises and\ndisease crises, according to the character and the tendency of the\nacute reaction. If an acute disease is brought about through the\naccumulation of morbid matter or the invasion of disease germs to\nsuch an extent that the health or the life of the organism is\nendangered, in other words, if the disease conditions are forcing\nthe crises, we speak of disease crises.\n\nBut if acute reactions take place in the system because conditions\nhave become more normal, because the healing forces have gained the\nascendancy and forced the acute inflammatory processes, we call them\nhealing crises.\n\nHealing crises are simply different forms of elimination by means of\nwhich Nature endeavors to remove the latent, chronic disease\nencumbrance from the system. The most common forms of these acute\npurifications are colds, catarrhal and hemorrhoidal discharges,\nboils, ulcers, abscesses, open sores, skin eruptions, diarrheas,\netc.\n\nHealing crises and disease crises may seem very much alike. Patients\noften tell me: \"I have had this before. I call it an ordinary boil\n(or cold, or fever).\"\n\nThat may be true. The former disease crisis and the present healing\ncrisis may be similar in their outward manifestations. But they are\ntaking place under entirely different conditions.\n\nWhen the organism is loaded to the danger point with morbid matter,\nit may arouse itself in self-defense to an acute eliminative effort\nin the shape of cold, catarrh, fever, inflammation, skin eruption,\netc. In these instances, the disease conditions bring about the\ncrisis and the organism is on the defensive. These are disease\ncrises.\n\nSuch unequal struggles between the healing forces and disease\nconditions sometimes end favorably and sometimes unfavorably.\n\nOn the other hand, healing crises develop because the healing forces\nare in the ascendancy and take the offensive. They are brought about\nthrough the natural methods of living and of treatment and always\nresult in improved conditions.\n\nA simple allegory may assist me in explaining the difference between\na healing crisis and a disease crisis:\n\nFor years a prizefighter holds the championship because he keeps\nhimself in perfect physical condition and before every contest\nspends many weeks in careful training. When he faces his opponent in\nthe ring, he has eliminated from his organism as much waste matter\nand superfluous flesh and fat as possible by a strictly regulated\ndiet and a great deal of hard exercise. As a consequence, he comes\noff victorious in every contest and easily maintains his\nsuperiority.\n\nThese victories in his career, like healing crises in the organism,\nare the result of training and preparation.\n\nThe prizefighter in the one case and Vital Force in the other are on\nthe offensive from the beginning of the struggle and have the best\nof the fight from start to finish.\n\nRendered overconfident by long-continued success, our champion\ngradually permits himself to drift into a weakened physical\ncondition. He omits his regular training and indulges in all kinds\nof dissipation.\n\nOne day, full of self-conceit and underestimating the strength of\nhis challenger, he enters the ring without preparation and is\ningloriously defeated by a man who, under different circumstances,\nwould not be a match for him.\n\nSo, in the case of a patient in a disease crisis, fatal termination\nmay be due to the excessive accumulation of waste and morbid matter\nin the system, to lowered vitality and to lack of preparation.\nVictory or defeat in acute reactions as well as in the ring depends\non right living and preparatory training.\n\nIn the healing crisis, vitality is the stronger and gains the\nvictory in the struggle; in the disease crisis, disease conditions\nhave gained the ascendancy and may bring about the defeat of the\nhealing forces.\n\nUnder conditions favorable to human life, a body of normal\nstructure, healthy blood and tissues and good vitality cannot be\naffected by acute disease. Such an organism is practically immune to\nall forms of inflammatory febrile reactions. These always indicate\nthat there is something wrong in the system which Nature is trying\nto correct or get rid of.\n\nHealing Crises\n\nIn Chapter Two \"Catechism of Nature Cure,\" we defined healing\ncrises as follows: \"A healing crisis is an acute reaction, resulting\nfrom the ascendancy of Nature's healing forces over disease\nconditions. Its tendency is toward recovery, and it is, therefore,\nin conformity with Nature's constructive principle.\" The possibility\nof producing healing crises and thereby curing chronic ailments\ndepends upon the following conditions:\n\nThe patient must possess sufficient vital energy and powers of\nreaction to respond to the natural treatment and to a change of\nhabits. The destruction and disorganization of vital fluids and\norgans must not have advanced too far.\n\nSome patients become frightened at the idea of crises. They exclaim:\n\"I came here to get well, not to grow worse.\"\n\nHowever, there is no occasion for alarm. Healing crises occur in\nmild form only because, under the influence of natural living and\ntreatment, Nature has the best of the fight. The healing forces of\nthe organism have gained the ascendancy over the disease conditions.\n\nIn fact, Nature never undertakes a healing crisis until the system\nhas been prepared for it, until the organism is sufficiently\npurified and strengthened to conduct the acute reaction to a\nfavorable termination.\n\nFurthermore, it is well to remember that crises cannot be avoided,\nbecause it is through fevers and inflammatory processes that Nature\neffects the cure--that she tears down the old to build up the new.\n\nOn the other hand, if patients are possessed of exceptionally good\nvitality and if the organs of elimination are in good working order,\nthe purification and adjustment of the organism may occasionally\nproceed gradually without the occurrence of marked acute reactions\nor crises.\n\nHealing Crises, When Properly Conducted,\n\nAre Never Fatal to Life\n\nWhen well assisted by the right, natural methods of living and of\ntreatment, healing crises are never dangerous or fatal to life. The\nonly danger lies in suppressing these acute reactions by drugs,\nknife, the ice bag or any means whatever.\n\nIf acute reactions are suppressed, the constructive healing crisis\nmay be changed into a destructive disease crisis. Therefore we\nearnestly warn our patients never to interfere in any way with a\nhealing crisis lest the chronic condition (which resulted from the\nsuppression of the original disease) become worse than before.\n\nWhen Nature, with all the force inherent in the human organism, has\nfinally worked up to the point of a healing crisis, another defeat\nby a new suppression may be beyond her powers of endurance and\nrecuperation. Fatal collapse may then be the result.\n\nTherefore, take heed! If you are not willing to endure the healing\ncrises, do not undertake the treatment. When you have conjured up\nthe hidden demons of disease, you must have the courage to face and\nsubdue them. Nothing good in life comes to us except as we pay the\nprice. He who is too cowardly to conquer in a healing crisis may\nperish in a disease crisis.\n\nDrugs Versus Healing Crises\n\nOur explanations of the natural laws of cure and of natural\ntherapeutics are often greeted by \"Old School\" physicians and\nstudents with remarks like the following:\n\n\"You speak as if you had the monopoly of eliminative treatment and\nof the production of crises. With our laxatives, cathartics,\ndiuretics, diaphoretics and tonics, we are doing the same thing.\nWhat is more effectual for stimulating a sluggish liver and\ncleansing the intestinal tract than calomel followed by a dose of\nsalts? What will produce more profuse perspiration than pilocarpin;\nor what is a better stimulus to the kidneys than squills or buchu?\nCan we not by means of stimulants and depressants regulate heart\naction to a nicety?\n\n\"We accomplish all this in a clean, scientific manner, without\nresorting to unpleasant dieting and to barbarous applications of\ndouches, packs and manual treatments. Isn't it more dignified and\nprofessional to write a Latin prescription? How much better the\nimpression on the laity than soaking and rubbing!\"\n\nLet us see if these statements are true, if laxation, urination or\nperspiration produced by poisonous drugs are identical in character\nand in effect with the elimination produced by natural living and\nnatural methods of treatment through healing crises.\n\nMercury, in the form of calomel, is one of the best-known\ncholagogues [an agent designed to increase the flow of bile and,\nthereby, stimulate lower bowel action, ~ed.~]. It is the favorite\nlaxative and cathartic of allopathy. The prevailing idea is that\ncalomel acts on the liver and the intestines; but in reality these\norgans act on the drug.\n\nAll laxatives and cathartics are poisons; if it were not so, they\nwould not produce their peculiar, drastic effects. Because they are\npoisons, Nature tries to eliminate them from the system as quickly\nand as thoroughly as possible. In order to do this, the excretory\nglands and membranes of the liver and the digestive tract greatly\nincrease the amount of their secretions and thereby produce a forced\nevacuation of the intestinal canal.\n\nThus the system, in the effort to eliminate the mercurial poison,\nexpels also the other contents of the intestines. This may effect a\ntemporary cleansing of the intestinal tract, but it does not and\ncannot cleanse the individual cells throughout the body of their\nimpurities.\n\nThe Lasting Effects of Artificial Purging\n\nIn accordance with the Law of Action and Reaction, action and\nreaction are equal and opposite; the temporary irritation and\noverstimulation of the sensitive membranes of the digestive organs\nare followed by corresponding weakness and exhaustion, and if this\nprocedure be repeated and become habitual, by gradual atrophy and\nparalysis. As atrophy progresses, the dose of the purgative must be\nincreased in order to accomplish the desired result and this, in its\nturn, hastens the degenerative changes in the system.\n\nSuch enforced, artificial purging may flush the drains and sewers,\nbut does not cleanse the chambers of the house. The cells in the\ninterior tissues remain encumbered with morbid matter. A genuine and\ntruly effective housecleaning must start in the cells and must be\nbrought about through the initiative of the vital energies in the\norganism, through healing crises, and not through stimulation by\nmeans of poisonous irritants.\n\nWhen, under a natural regimen of living and of treatment, the system\nhas been sufficiently purified, adjusted and vivified, the cells\nthemselves begin the work of elimination.\n\nThis is what takes place: The morbid matter and poisons thrown off\nby the cells and tissues are carried by means of the venous\ncirculation to the organs of elimination, the bowels, kidneys, lungs\nand skin, and to the mucous membranes lining the interior tracts,\nsuch as the nasal passages, the throat and bronchi, the digestive\nand genitourinary canals, etc.\n\nThese organs of elimination become overcrowded with the rush of\nmorbid matter and the accompanying congestion and irritation cause\nthe acute inflammatory processes and feverish symptoms\ncharacterizing the various forms of colds, catarrhs, skin eruptions,\ndiarrheas, boils and other acute forms of elimination, which we call\nhealing crises. In other words, what the \"Old School\" of medicine\ncalls the disease, we look upon as the Cure.\n\nAcute elimination brought about in this manner is Nature's method of\nhousecleaning. It is a true healing crisis, the result of\npurification and increased activity from within the cell, produced\nby natural means.\n\nHere interposes Friend Allopath: \"You claim that you bring about\nyour acute reactions by natural means only, and that these are never\ninjurious to the organism. What difference does it make if the\ncirculation is stimulated and elimination increased by a cold-water\nspray or by digitalis? The cold-water stimulation produces a\nreaction just as digitalis does, and the one must therefore be as\ninjurious as the other.\"\n\nTo this we reply: \"The stimulating effect on heart and circulation\nproduced by digitalis is the first action of a highly poisonous\ndrug; the second lasting effect is weakening and paralyzing. On the\nother hand, the first action of a cold-water spray is depressing; it\nsends the blood into the interior of the body and benumbs the\nsurface. The sensory nerves at once report this sensation of cold to\nheadquarters in the brain, and immediately the command is\ntelegraphed to the blood vessels in the interior of the body: 'Send\nblood to the surface!' As a result, the blood is carried to the\nsurface, and the skin becomes warm and rosy with the glow of life.\nIn this case the stimulation is the second and lasting effect of the\nwater treatment, from which there is no further reaction.\"\n\nSimilarly, the stimulation produced by exercise, massage,\nmanipulation or the exposure of the nude body to light and air is\nnatural stimulation, produced by harmless, natural means. It is\nentirely due to the fact that conditions in the system have been\nmade more normal, as explained in other chapters.\n\nDrugs, stimulants and tonics, while they produce an artificial,\ntemporary stimulation, do not change the underlying abnormal\nconditions in the organism. Likewise, the flushing of the colon with\nwater, the use of laxative herb teas and decoctions or forced\nsweating by means of Turkish or Russian baths, though not as\ndangerous as inorganic minerals and poisonous drugs, cannot be\nclassed among the natural means of cure. These agents, which by many\npersons are looked upon as natural treatment, irritate the organs of\nelimination to forced, abnormal activity without at the same time\narousing the cells in the interior of the body to natural\nelimination.\n\nDr. H. Lahmann, one of the foremost scientists of the Nature Cure\nmovement, made a series of interesting experiments. His chemists\ngathered the natural perspiration of certain patients, produced by\nordinary exercise in the sunshine. These excretions of the skin were\nevaporated and analyzed, and were found to contain poisons powerful\nenough to kill rabbits.\n\nIf profuse sweating was produced in the same patients by the high\ntemperature of the hot-air box or the electric-light cabinet, their\nperspiration, when evaporated and analyzed, was found to contain\nonly small amounts of toxins. Thus Dr. Lahmann proved that:\n\nSweating and the elimination of disease matter are two different\nprocesses. Artificially induced sweating does not eliminate disease\nmatter. The organism cannot be forced by irritants and stimulants\nand artificial means, but eliminates morbid matter only in its own\nnatural manner and when it is in proper condition to do so.\n\nIn a lesser degree, this applies also to fasting. Under certain\nconditions it becomes a necessity; but it may easily be abused and\noverdone.\n\nDo We Never Fail?\n\nCertainly we fail, but our failures are usually due to the fact that\nsick people, as a rule, do not consider Nature Cure except as a last\nresort. The methods and requirements of Nature Cure appear at first\nso unusual and exacting that people seek to evade them so long as\nthey have the least faith in the miracle-working power of the poison\nbottle, a metaphysical healer or the surgeon's knife. When health,\nwealth and hope are entirely exhausted, then the chronic sufferer\ngrasps at Nature Cure as a drowning man clutches at a straw. But\neven though ninety percent of these cases which come to us are of\nthe apparently incurable type, our total failures are few and far\nbetween.\n\nIf there is sufficient vitality in the body to react to natural\ntreatment and if the destruction of vital parts and organs has not\ntoo far advanced, a cure is possible. Often the seemingly hopeless\ncases yield the most readily.\n\nOur success is due to the fact that we do not rely on any one method\nof treatment, but combine in our work everything that is good in the\ndifferent systems of natural healing.\n\nThe Law of Crises\n\nEverywhere in nature and in the world of men we find the Law of\nCrises in evidence. This proves it to be a universal law, ruling all\ncosmic relations and activities.\n\nWars and revolutions are the healing crises in the life of nations.\nHeresies and reformations are the crises of religion. In strikes,\nriots and panics, we recognize the crises of commercial life.\n\nStaid old Mother Earth herself has in the hoary past repeatedly\nchanged the configurations of her continents and oceans by great\ncataclysms or geological crises.\n\nWhen the sultry summer air has become pregnant with poisonous vapors\nand miasmas, atmospheric crises, such as rainstorms, thunder,\nlightning and electric storms, cool and purify the air and charge it\nanew with life-giving ozone. In like manner will healing crises\npurify the disease-laden bodies of men.\n\nEmanuel Swedenborg gives us a wonderful description of the Law of\nCrises in its relationship to the regeneration of the soul. We quote\nfrom the chapter in which he describes the working of this law,\nentitled, \"Regeneration Is Effected by Combats in Temptation.\"\n\n\"They who have not been instructed concerning the regeneration of\nman think that man can be regenerated without temptation. But it is\nto be known that no one is regenerated without temptation; and that\nmany temptations succeed, one after another. The reason is that\nregeneration is effected for an end, in order that the life of the\nold man may die, and the new life which is heavenly be insinuated.\nIt is evident, therefore, that there must be a conflict [healing\ncrisis--~author's note ~]; for the life of the old man resists and\ndetermines not to be extinguished; and the life of the new man can\nonly enter where the life of the old is extinct.\n\n\"Whoever thinks from an enlightened rationale, may see and perceive\nfrom this that a man cannot be regenerated without combat, that is,\nwithout spiritual temptations; and further, that he is not\nregenerated by one temptation, but by many. For there are very many\nkinds of evil which formed the delight of his former life, that is,\nof the old life. These evils cannot all be subdued at once and\ntogether; for they cleave tenaciously, since they have been inrooted\nin the parents for many ages back [the scrofula of the\nsoul--~author's note~ ] and are therefore innate in man, and are\nconfirmed by actual evils from himself from infancy. All these evils\nare diametrically opposite to the celestial good [perfect\nhealth--~author's note~ ] that is to be insinuated and which is to\nconstitute the New Life.\"\n\nThus the inspired Seer of the North draws a vivid picture of what we\ncall healing crises in their relation to moral regeneration.\n\nWe cannot help recognizing the close agreement of physical and\nspiritual crises; this, again, demonstrates the continuity and exact\ncorrespondence of Natural Law on the different planes of being. [The\nLaw of Hermes: ~As above, so below; as in the inner, so in the\nouter; as in the lesser, so in the greater.~]\n\nWe of the Nature Cure school know that this great Law of Crises\ndominates the cure of chronic disease. Every case is another\nverification of it; in fact, every decided advance on the road to\nperfect health is marked by acute reactions.\n\nThe cure invariably proceeds through the darkness and chaos of the\ncrises to the light and beauty of perfect health, periods of marked\nimprovement alternating with acute eliminating activity (the\n\"spiritual temptations\" and \"combats\" of Swedenborg), until perfect\nregeneration has taken place.\n\n\n\nChapter XXI\n\n\nPeriodicity\n\n\nIn many forms of acute disease, crises develop with marked\nregularity and in well-defined periodicity. This phenomenon has been\nobserved and described by many physicians.\n\nIt is not so well known, however, that in the cure of chronic\ndiseases also, crises develop in accordance with certain laws of\nperiodicity.\n\nPeriodicity is governed by the Septimal Law or Law of Sevens, which\nseems to be the basic law governing the vibratory activities of the\nplanetary universe.\n\nThe harmonics of heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism and of\natomic structure and arrangement run in scales of seven.\n\nThe Law of Sevens governs the days of the week, the phases of the\nmoon and the menstrual periods of the woman. Every observing\nphysician is aware of its influence on feverish, nervous and psychic\ndiseases.\n\nThe Law of Sevens dominates the life of individuals and of nations\nand of everything that lives and has periods of birth, growth,\nfruitage and decline.\n\nOver two thousand years ago Pythagoras and Hippocrates distinctly\nrecognized and proclaimed the Law of Crises in its bearing on the\ncure of chronic diseases. They taught that alternating, well-defined\nperiods of improvement and of crises were determined and governed by\nthe law of periodicity and by the law of numbers (the Septimal Law).\n\nThe following quotations are taken from the ~Encyclopedia\nBritannica,~ Vol. XV, p. 800:\n\n\"But this artistic completeness was closely connected with 'the\nthird cardinal virtue' of Hippocratic medicine--the clear\nrecognition of disease as being equally with life a process governed\nby what we should now call natural laws, which could be known by\nobservation and which indicated the spontaneous and normal direction\nof recovery, by following which alone could the physician succeed.\n\n\"Another Hippocratic doctrine, the influence of which is not even\nyet exhausted, is that of the healing power of Nature. Not that\nHippocrates taught, as he was afterwards reproached with teaching,\nthat Nature is sufficient for the cure of diseases; for he held\nstrongly the efficacy of art. But he recognized, at least in acute\ndiseases, a natural process which the humours went through--being\nfirst of all crude, then passing through coction or digestion, and\nfinally being expelled by resolution or crisis through one of the\nnatural channels of the body. The duty of the physician was to\nforesee these changes, 'to assist or not to hinder them,' so that\n'the sick man might conquer the disease with the help of the\nphysician.' The times at which crises were to be expected were\nnaturally looked for with anxiety; and it was a cardinal point in\nthe Hippocratic system to foretell them with precision. Hippocrates,\ninfluenced as is thought by the Pythagorean doctrine of numbers,\ntaught that they were to be expected on days fixed by certain\nnumerical rules, in some cases on odd, in others on even\nnumbers--the celebrated doctrine of 'critical days.' It follows from\nwhat has been said that prognosis, or the art of foretelling the\ncourse and event of the disease, was a strong point with the\nHippocratic physicians. In this perhaps they have never been\nexcelled. Diagnosis, or recognition of the disease, must have been\nnecessarily imperfect, when no scientific nosology, or system of\ndisease* existed, and the knowledge of anatomy was quite inadequate\nto allow of a precise determination of the seat of disease; but\nsymptoms were no doubt observed and interpreted skilfully. The pulse\nis not spoken of in any of the works now attributed to Hippocrates\nhimself, though it is mentioned in other works of the collection.\"\n\n*The author of this article in the Encyclopedia Britannica does not\nsee that it is the modern [then as now] orthodox \"scientific\nnosology, or system of disease\" which obscures the simplicity and\nprecision of the Hippocratic philosophy of disease and cure.\n\n\"In the treatment of disease, the Hippocratic school attached great\nimportance to diet, the variations necessary in different diseases\nbeing minutely defined. In chronic cases diet, exercises and\nnatural methods were chiefly relied upon.\"\n\nThese wonderful truths, with other wisdom of the ancients, were lost\nin the spiritual darkness of the Middle Ages. Modern medicine looks\nupon these claims and teachings of the Hippocratic School as\n\"superstition without any foundation in fact.\" However, the great\nsages of antiquity, drawing upon a source of ancient wisdom, deeply\nhidden from the self-satisfied scribes and wise men of the schools,\nafter all, proclaimed the truth.\n\nEvery case of chronic disease properly treated by natural methods\nproves the reality and stability of the Law of Crises. It is\ntherefore a standing wonder and surprise to one who knows, that this\nall-important and self-evident law is practically unknown to the\ndisciples of the regular schools.\n\nThe Law of Sevens\n\nIn accordance with the Law of Periodicity, the sixth period in any\nseven periods is marked by reactions, changes, revolutions or\ncrises. It is, therefore, looked upon by popular intuition as an\nunlucky period. Friday, the sixth day of the week, is regarded as an\nunlucky day; Friday is hangman's day; according to tradition the\nMaster, Jesus, was crucified on Friday.\n\nCounting from the first sixth or Friday period in any given number\nof hours, days, weeks, months, years or groups of years, as the case\nmay be, every succeeding seventh period is characterized by crises.\n\nThis explains why 13 is considered an unlucky number. It represents\nthe second critical or Friday period.\n\nHowever, there is really no cause for this superstitious fear of\nFriday and the number 13. It is due to a lack of understanding of\nNature's Laws. By intelligent cooperation with these laws we may\nturn the critical periods in our lives into healing crises and\nbeneficial changes.\n\nWe should not fear the crises periods of the larger life and the\nchanges in our outward circumstances which they may bring any more\nthan we should fear crises in the physical body.\n\nA thorough understanding of the nature and purpose of healing crises\nin acute and chronic diseases has taught me the nature and purpose\nof evil in general. It has made me understand more clearly the\nmeaning of \"Resist not Evil\" and of the saying: \"We are punished by\nour sins, not for our sins.\" It has shown me that evil is not a\npunishment or a curse, but a necessary complement of good, that it\nis corrective and educational in its purposes, that it remains with\nus only as long as we need its salutary lessons.\n\nThe evil of physical disease is not due to accident or to the\narbitrary rulings of a capricious Providence, nor is it always\n\"error of mortal mind.\" From the Nature Cure philosophy and its\npractical applications we have learned that, barring accidents and\nconditions or surroundings unfavorable to human life, it is caused\nin every instance by violations of the physical laws of our being.\nSo the social, political and industrial evil of the larger life is\nbrought about by violations of the law in the respective domains of\nlife and action.\n\nSo long as transgressions of the physical laws of our being result\nin hereditary and acquired disease encumbrances, we must expect\nreactions which may become either disease crises or healing crises.\nLikewise, so long as ignorance, selfishness and self-indulgence\ncontinue to create evil in other domains of life, we must expect\nthere also the occurrence of crises, of reaction and revolution.\nWhen knowledge, self-control and altruism become the sole motives of\naction, evil and the crises it necessitates will naturally\ndisappear.\n\nTherefore, we should not be afraid of changes and crises periods but\ncooperate with them clear-eyed and strong-willed. Then they will\nresult in improvement and further growth.\n\nLife is growth, and growth is change. The only death is stagnation.\nThe loss of friends, home or fortune may seem for the time being an\noverwhelming calamity; but if met in the right spirit, such losses\nwill prove stepping-stones to greater opportunity and higher\nachievement.\n\nMany of our patients formerly looked upon their diseased condition\nas a great misfortune and an undeserved punishment; but since it\nbrought them in contact with the Nature Cure philosophy and showed\nthem the necessity of complying with the laws of their being, they\nnow look upon the former evil as the greatest blessing in their\nlives, because it taught them how to become the masters of fate\ninstead of remaining the plaything of Nature's destructive forces.\n\nWhy should we fear even the greatest of all crises, physical death,\nwhen it, also, is only the gateway to a larger life, greater\nopportunities and more beautiful surroundings? Why should we mourn\nand grieve over the death of friends and relatives, when they have\nonly emigrated to another, better country?\n\nSuppose we ourselves had to enter upon the great journey today or\ntomorrow, shouldn't we be glad to meet some of our friends on the\nother side and to be welcomed, advised and guided by them in the new\nsurroundings?\n\nTherefore we should not fear, nor endeavor to avoid the crises in\nany and all domains of life and action, but meet them and cooperate\nwith them fearlessly and intelligently. They then will always make\nfor greater opportunity and higher accomplishment.\n\nThe Law of Sevens Applied to Individual Life\n\nApplied to the life of the individual, the Law of Periodicity\nmanifests itself as follows:\n\nHuman life on the earth plane is divided into periods of seven\nyears. The first seven years represent the period of infancy. With\nthe next seven, the years of childhood, begins individual\nresponsibility, the conscious discernment between right and wrong.\nThe third group comprises the years of adolescence; the fourth marks\nthe attainment of full growth. Nearly all civilized countries take\ncognizance of this fact by fixing the legal age at twenty-one.\n\nThe twenty-eighth year, the beginning of the fifth period, is\nanother milestone along the road to development.\n\nThe sixth period, beginning at the age of thirty-five and ending at\nforty-two, is marked by reactions, changes and crises. It may,\ntherefore, seem an unlucky period; but if we understand the law and\ncomply with it, we shall be better and stronger in every way after\nwe have passed this period.\n\nDuring the seventh period, the effects of the sixth or crises period\ncontinue and adjust themselves. It is a period of reconstruction, of\nrecuperation and rest, and thus the best preparation for a new cycle\nof sevens which begins with the fiftieth year.**\n\n**Those who are interested in the Law of Periodicity as applied to\nlife in general, will find much valuable information in a book\nentitled ~Periodicity~ by J. R. Buchanan, M.D., published by the\nKosmos Publishing Co., 2112 Sherman Ave., Evanston, Il.\n\nIn this connection it is interesting to note that the Mosaic law\nrecognized the law of periodicity and fixed upon Sunday as the first\nday or \"birthday\" of the week, and upon Saturday (the Sabbath) as\nthe last or \"rest\" day, in which to prepare for another period of\nseven days.\n\nOrthodox science now admits that the normal length of human life\nshould be about one hundred and fifty years. This would constitute\nthree cycles of forty-nine years each, the first corresponding to\nyouth, the second to maturity, and the third to fruition.\n\nThe Law of Sevens in Febrile Diseases\n\nIf we apply the Laws of Periodicity to the course of acute febrile\nor inflammatory diseases, we find that the sixth day from the\nbeginning of the first well-defined symptom marks the first\nFriday-period or the first crisis of the disease, and that every\nseventh day thereafter is also distinguished by aggravations and\nchanges, either for better or for worse.\n\nThe Law of Sevens in Chronic Diseases\n\nApplied to the cure of chronic diseases under the influence of\nnatural methods of living and of treatment, the Laws of Crises and\nof Periodicity manifest as follows:\n\nWhen a chronic patient, whose chances of cure are good, is placed\nunder proper (natural) conditions of living and of treatment he\nwill, as a rule, experience five weeks of marked improvement.\n\nThe sixth week, if conditions are favorable, usually marks the\nbeginning of acute reactions or healing crises. This means that the\nhealing forces of the organism have grown strong enough to begin the\nwork of acute elimination.\n\nBy all sorts of acute reactions, such as skin eruptions, diarrheas,\nfeverish, inflammatory and catarrhal conditions, boils, abscesses,\nmucopurulent discharges, etc., Nature now endeavors to remove the\nlatent, chronic disease taints from the system.\n\nThe character of the healing crises and the time of their occurrence\nin any given case can often be accurately predicted by means of the\nDiagnosis from the Eye (see Chapter XIII), from Nature's records in\nthe iris.\n\nBut the best of all methods of diagnosis is the cure iself, because\nweak spots and morbid taints in the organism are revealed through\nthe healing crises.\n\nThe Same Old Aches and Pains\n\nFrequently we hear from a patient in the throes of crises: \"These\nare the same old aches and pains that I had before. It is exactly\nthe same trouble I have been suffering with for many years. This is\nnot a crisis!--I have caught a cold, or I have eaten something which\ndoes not agree with me.\"\n\nThe patient has forgotten what we taught him regarding the Law of\nCrises. He loses sight of the fact that healing crises are nothing\nmore or less than a coming-up-again of old disease conditions, an\nacute manifestation of ailments which had become chronic through\nneglect or suppression.\n\nOf course they are \"the same old aches and pains.\" Nature Cure does\nnot create new diseases. Crises mean the stirring up and eliminating\nof hereditary and acquired taints and poisons. Under the right\nmethods of treatment, any previous disease condition suppressed by\ndrugs or knife or by mental effort may recur as a healing crisis.\n\nThey are the same old aches and pains which so often gave trouble in\nthe past, but they are now running their course under different\nconditions because the patient is now living in harmony with\nNature's Laws.\n\nUnder the natural regimen, Nature is encouraged and assisted in her\ncleansing and healing efforts. She is allowed in her own wise way to\ntear down the old and build up the new.\n\nThe \"Old Schools\" of healing proclaim Mother Nature a poor healer.\nBut we of the Nature Cure school believe that the wisdom which\ncreated this wonderful, complex mechanism which we call the human\nbody knows also how to preserve and to repair it. Every healing\ncrisis passed under natural conditions assisted by natural methods\nof treatment leaves the body purified and strengthened and nearer to\nperfect health.\n\nOur critics and opponents frequently ask us how we know that our\nmethods are natural and in harmony with Nature's laws.\n\nTo this we reply: The timely appearance of healing crises, their\norderly development and favorable termination constitute the best\ncriterion of the correctness and naturalness of the methods of\ntreatment employed. The prompt arrival and beneficial results of\nacute reactions are a certain indication that the healing forces of\nthe organism are in the ascendancy and that the treatment is in\nconformity with the natural laws of cure and with the constructive\nprinciple in Nature.\n\nAnother question sometimes asked of us is: \"Do healing crises\ndevelop in every chronic disease under natural treatment?\" Our\nanswer is: If the condition of the patient is not favorable to a\ncure, that is, if the vitality is too low and the destruction of\nvital parts too far advanced, the healing crises may be\nproportionately delayed or may not occur at all. In such cases the\ndisease symptoms will increase in severity and complexity and become\nmore destructive instead of more constructive, until the final fatal\ncrisis. The end may come quickly, or the patient may decline\ngradually toward the fatal termination.\n\nAgain, patients ask us: \"Through how many crises shall I have to\npass?\" We tell them: Just as many as you need; no more, no less. So\nlong as there is anything wrong in the system, crises will come and\ngo; but each crisis, if successfully passed, is another milestone on\nthe road to perfect health.\n\nIt is intensely interesting to observe how orderly and intelligently\nNature proceeds in her work of healing and repair. One problem after\nanother is taken up and adjusted.\n\nFirst of all, the digestive organs are put into better condition,\nbecause further progress depends upon proper assimilation and\nelimination. The bowels must act freely and naturally before any\npermanent improvement can take place. A treatment which fails to\naccomplish this first preliminary improvement will surely fail to\nproduce more important results.\n\nIn this connection it is a significant fact that nearly all our\npatients, when they come under our care, are suffering from very\nstubborn constipation in spite of (or possibly on account of)\nlifelong drugging. Neither medicines nor operations had given them\nanything but temporary relief and the trouble had grown worse\ninstead of better.\n\nIf the \"Old School\" methods of treatment were not successful in\nrelieving simple constipation, what else can they be expected to\ncure, since the overcoming of constipation is evidently the primary\nnecessity for any other improvement?\n\nA system of treatment which cannot accomplish this cannot accomplish\nanything else. It is strange, therefore, that a school of medicine\nwhich has not succeeded, with all its vaunted knowledge and wisdom,\nto cure simple constipation, flatly denies that natural methods can\ncure cancer, epilepsy, locomotor ataxy and other so-called incurable\ndiseases.\n\nOur Greatest Difficulty\n\nThe greatest difficulty in our work lies in conducting our patients\nsafely through the stormy crises periods. The first, preliminary\nimprovement is often so marked that the patient believes himself\nalready cured. He will say: \"Doctor, I am feeling fine! There is\nnothing the matter with me any more! I cannot understand why I\nshouldn't go home and continue the natural regimen there!\"\n\nThis feeling of mental elation and physical well-being is usually\nthe sign that the first general improvement has progressed far\nenough to prepare the system for a healing crisis. Therefore my\nanswer to the overconfident patient may be something like this:\n\"Remember what I told you. The first improvement is not the cure, it\nis only the preparation for the real fight. Look out! In a few days\nyou may whistle another tune.\"\n\nAnd sure enough, usually within a few days after such a conversation\nthe patient is down in the slough of despond. His digestive organs\nare in a wretched condition. He is nauseated, his tongue is coated,\nhe is suffering from headache and from a multitude of other symptoms\naccording to his individual condition. In fact, many of the old\naches and pains which he thought already cured come up again with\nrenewed force.\n\nHealing crises, representing radical changes in the system, are\nalways accompanied by physical and mental weakness, because every\nbit of vitality is drawn upon in these reconstructive processes. The\nentire organism is shaken up to its very foundation; deep-seated,\nchronic disease taints are being stirred up throughout the system.\n\nThe eliminative processes of the healing crises are often\naccompanied by great mental depression and a feeling of strong\nrevulsion to the natural regimen and everything connected with it.\n\nThe patient thinks that, after all, Nature Cure is not for him, that\nhe is growing worse instead of better. In proportion to the severity\nof the changes going on within him, he becomes disheartened and\ndespondent. Often he exhibits all the mental and emotional symptoms\nof homesickness. In these critical days it requires all our powers\nof persuasion to keep the depressed and discouraged patient from\ngiving up the fight and from taking something to relieve his\ndistress. He insists that \"something must be done for him,\" and\ncannot understand how he will ever get out of his \"awful condition\"\nwithout some good strong medicine.\n\nIf our patients were not continually and thoroughly instructed\nregarding the Laws of Crises and of Periodicity and if we did not\nstrongly advise and encourage them to persevere with the treatment,\nfew of them would hold out during these critical periods.\n\nThis explains why so many people fail to be cured and it also\nexplains why natural living and self-treatment often do not meet\nwith the desired results if carried on without the instruction and\nguidance of a competent, experienced Nature Cure physician.\n\nSo long as the improvement continues, everything is lovely and hope\nsoars high. But when the inevitable crises arrive, the sufferer\nbelieves that, after all, he made a mistake in taking up the natural\nregimen, especially so when friends and relatives do their best to\ndestroy his confidence in the natural methods of cure by ridicule\nand dire prophesies of failure.\n\nFrightened and discouraged, the patient returns to the \"flesh-pots\nof Egypt\" and to the good old pills and potions and ever afterwards\nhe tells his friends that \"he tried Nature Cure and the vegetarian\ndiet, but it was no good.\"\n\nMother Nature remains a \"book sealed with seven seals\" to those who\nmistrust, despise and counteract her, who rely on man-made wisdom\nand the ever-changing theories and dogmas of the schools.\n\nBut on the other hand, every crisis conducted to a successful\ntermination in accordance with Nature's laws becomes an inspiration\nto him who follows her guidance and assists her with intelligent\neffort and loving care.\n\n\n\nChapter XXII\n\n\nWhat About The \"Chronic\"? It Takes So Long\n\n\n\"Yes, Nature Cure is all right, but it takes so long.\" Now and then\nwe hear this or a similar remark. Our answer is: \"No, it does not\ntake long. It is the swiftest cure in existence.\"\n\nThe trouble is that, as a rule, we have to deal with none but the\nmost advanced cases of so-called incurable diseases. People go to\nthe Nature Cure physician only after all other methods of treatment\nhave been tried and found of no avail.\n\nAs long as there remains a particle of faith in the medicine bottle,\nthe knife or the metaphysical formula of the mind healer, people\nprefer these easy methods, which require no effort on their part, to\nthe Nature Cure treatment, which necessitates personal exertion,\nself-control, the changing or giving up of cherished habits. This,\nhowever, is what most of us evade as long as we can. \"Exercise, the\ncold blitzguss, no red meat, no coffee?--I'd rather die!\"\n\nAfraid of Cold Water\n\nThe most-dreaded terror on the threshold seems to be cold water.\nUndoubtedly, it has kept away thousands from Nature Cure and thereby\nfrom the only possible cure for their chronic ailments. If we could\nachieve equally good results without our heroic methods of\ntreatment, the sidewalks leading to our institution would be crowded\nwith people clamoring for admission.\n\nAfter all, this foolish fear is entirely groundless. Cold water is\nno more to be dreaded than the bogey man. It is one of our\nfundamental principles of treatment never to do anything that is\npainful to the patient. We always \"temper the wind to the shorn\nlamb,\" the coldness of the water and the force of the manipulations\nto the sensitiveness and endurance of the subject. Beginning with\nmild, alternately warm and cool sprays, which are pleasant and\nagreeable to everyone, we gradually increase the force and lower the\ntemperature until the patient is so inured to cold water that the\nblitzguss becomes a delightful and pleasurable sensation, a positive\nluxury.\n\nIt is amusing to watch the gradual change in the attitude of our\npatients toward the cold-water treatment. In some instances we have\nhad to spend hours in earnest persuasion before we could induce a\nparticularly sensitive person to try the first mild spray. A few\nweeks later if, perchance, something interfered with the cold water\napplications, the patient would indignantly refuse to take the other\ntreatment if there was to be no cold water.\n\nThere is certainly no finer tonic than cold water, no more\nexhilarating sensation than that produced by the artistic\napplication of alternating douches and the blitz.\n\nThe real cause of this cold-water scare, we believe, is to be found\nin the boasting of the veterans. When, with protruding chest and\nchin in air, they brag to the newcomers or to their friends about\ntheir heroism and the coolness with which they allow the cold-water\nhose to be turned on them, the listener shudders and exclaims: \"This\ncold water may be all right for you, but it would never do for me.\"\n\nNo doubt, it is this bravado of the initiated that keeps many a\nnovice from the first plunge into the mysteries of Nature Cure. If\nthese timid ones only knew what they miss!\n\nBusiness Versus Cure\n\nFrom a business point of view it would, perhaps, be better to omit\nthe cold water altogether. It would certainly be much less trouble;\nbut then, the rugged honesty of Father Kneipp, the champion of the\ncold-water treatment branch of German Nature Cure, has descended\nupon his followers and compels them to tell the whole truth and\nnothing but the truth, to make use of everything that is likely to\nbe of benefit to the patient and to effect a real and lasting cure.\n\nOur friends, the osteopaths, have only a pitying smile for our\narduous labors. They ask: \"Why fool with cold water and drive\npatients away, when pleasant manipulations bring the business?\" If\nwe query in return: \"Do your pleasant manipulations cure obstinate\nchronic ailments?\" They answer: \"We do not expect to cure them. The\neffort involves too much labor and spoils the reputation of our\nwork. Not one in a hundred chronics has the patience and\nperseverance to be cured. Besides, if a patient comes too long to\nthe office for treatment he drives others away.\"\n\nSome of the most successful osteopaths in this city make it a rule\nnot to treat a patient longer than six weeks or two months.\n\nIn a number of cases this may be sufficient to produce marked\nprimary improvement, but it is not enough to launch the patient into\na healing crisis and, therefore, does not produce a real cure\nbecause it does not remove the underlying causes of the disease. If,\nafter a while, the latent chronic condition again manifests in\nexternal symptoms, the patient returns for another course of\ntreatment; he was \"cured\" so quickly before and thinks he will be\nhelped again.\n\nIn justice to the osteopaths it must be said that we are not\nreferring to those chronic diseases which are directly caused by\nlesions of the spine or other bony structures. If such dislocations\nor subluxations be the sole cause of the trouble, their correction\nby manipulative treatment may produce a cure within a few weeks.\n\nBut notwithstanding the teachings of orthodox osteopathy, the\nmajority of chronic ailments have their origin in other causes. In\nmost cases, the existing spinal lesions are themselves the result of\nother primary disease conditions which must be removed before the\nbony lesions will remain corrected.\n\nThe mode of treatment depends upon the object that is to be\naccomplished. If it is to make the patient feel better with the\nleast possible expenditure of time, money, personal effort and\nself-control on his part, and the least amount of exertion on the\npart of the physician or healer, then osteopathic manipulations or\nmeta-physical formulas may be in order. But if the object is to cure\nactually and permanently a deep-seated chronic disease, all the\nmethods of the natural treatment, intelligently combined and adapted\nto the individual case, will be required in order to accomplish\nresults.\n\nPull the Roots\n\nCutting off their heads does not kill the weeds. The first sign of\nimprovement in the treatment of a chronic disease does not mean a\ncure.\n\nDiagnosis from the Eye, borne out by everyday practical experience,\nreveals the fact that symptomatic manifestations of disease are due\nto underlying constitutional causes; that the chronic symptoms are\nNature's feeble and ineffectual efforts to eliminate from the system\nscrofulous, psoric or syphilitic taints and the disease products\nresulting from food and drug poisoning, or to overcome the\ndestructive effects of surgical mutilations.\n\nAn abatement of symptoms is, therefore, not always the sign of a\nreal and permanent cure. The latter depends entirely on the\nelimination of the hereditary and acquired constitutional taints and\npoisons.\n\nWhen, under the influence of natural living and methods of\ntreatment, the body of the chronic becomes sufficiently purified and\nstrengthened, a period of marked improvement may set in. All disease\nsymptoms gradually abate, the patient gains in strength, both\nphysically and mentally, and he feels as though there was nothing\nthe matter with him any more.\n\nBut the eyes tell a different story. They show that the underlying\nconstitutional taints have not been fully eliminated--the weeds have\nnot been pulled up by the roots.\n\nThis can be accomplished only by healing crises, by Nature's\ncleansing and healing activities in the form of inflammatory and\nfeverish processes; anything short of this is merely preliminary\nimprovement, \"training for the fight,\" but not the cure.\n\nWhen you order a suit of clothes from your tailor, you do not take\nit away from him half-finished; if you do, you will have an\nunsatisfactory garment.\n\nNo more should you interfere with your cure after the first signs of\nimprovement. Continue until you have thoroughly eliminated from your\nsystem the hidden constitutional taints and the drug poisons which\nhave been the cause of your troubles. After that you can paddle your\nown canoe; right living and right thinking will then be sufficient\nto maintain perfect health and strength, physically, mentally and\nmorally.\n\nIs the Chronic Patient to Be Left to His Fate\n\nBecause Allopathy Says He Is Incurable?\n\nFrequently we have been severely criticised by our friends, our\ncoworkers or our patients for accepting certain seemingly hopeless\nchronic cases. They exclaim:\n\n\"You know this man has locomotor ataxy and that woman is an\nepileptic: you certainly do not expect to cure them,\" or, \"Doctor,\ndon't you think it injures the institution to have that\ndreadful-looking person around? He is nothing but skin and bones and\nsurely cannot live much longer.\"\n\nSometimes open criticism and covert insinuation intimate that our\nreasons for taking in incurables are mercenary.\n\nIf we should dismiss today those of our patients who, from the\northodox and popular point of view, are considered incurable, there\nwould not remain ten out of a hundred; and yet our total failures\nare few and far between. Many such seemingly hopeless cases have\ncome for treatment month after month, in several instances for a\nyear or more, apparently without any marked advance; yet today they\nare in the best of health.\n\nYes, it is hard work and frequently thankless work to deal with\nthese patients. It would be much easier, much more remunerative and\nwould bring more glory to confine ourselves to the treatment of\nacute diseases, for it is there that Nature Cure works its most\nimpressive miracles. On the other hand, to achieve the seemingly\nimpossible, to prove what Nature Cure can accomplish in the most\nstubborn chronic cases, sustains our courage and is its own\ncompensation.\n\nThe word chronic in the vocabulary of the \"Old School\" of medicine\nis synonymous with \"incurable.\" This is not strange; since the\nmedical and surgical symptomatic treatment of acute diseases creates\nthe chronic conditions, it certainly cannot be expected to cure\nthem. If, by continued suppression, Nature's cleansing and healing\nefforts have been perverted into chronic disease conditions, the\nfollowing directions are given in the regular works on medical\npractice:\n\n\"When this disease reaches the chronic stage, you can no longer cure\nit. You may advise the patient to change climate or occupation. As\nfor medication, treat the symptoms as they arise.\"\n\nWe know that the symptoms are Nature's healing efforts; when these\nare promptly treated, that is, suppressed, it is not surprising that\nthe chronic does not recover. In fact, it is the treatment which\nmakes him and keeps him a chronic.\n\nWhy Nature Cure Achieves Results\n\nNature Cure achieves results in the treatment of chronic diseases\nbecause its theories and practices are entirely opposite to those\njust described. However, when the Nature Cure physician claims that\nhe can cure cancer, tuberculosis, epilepsy, paralysis, Bright's\ndisease, diabetes or certain mental derangements, the regular\nphysician shows only derision and contempt. He will not even\ncondescend to examine any evidence in support of our claims.\n\nSince, then, Nature Cure offers to the so-called incurable the only\nhope and the only possible means of regaining health, why not give\nhim a chance? Many times apparently hopeless cases have responded\nmost readily to our treatment, while more promising ones offered the\nmost stubborn resistance. Even with the best possible methods of\ndiagnosis, it is hard to determine just how far the destruction of\nvital organs has progressed, or how deeply they have been\nimpregnated with drug poisons.\n\nTherefore, it is often an impossibility to predict with certainty\njust what the outcome will be. This can be determined only by a fair\ntrial. In the past we have treated many a case that, according to\nthe rules and precedents of orthodox science, should be dead and\nburied long ago; yet these individuals are today alive and in the\nbest of health.\n\nEvery now and then incidents like the following renew our enthusiasm\nand our faith in Nature Cure: Recently, we had three new cases, sent\nby three former patients who had been under treatment several years\nago. These three had been among the worst cases ever treated in our\ninstitution. When they came to us, one was supposed to be dying with\ncancer, the second was in the advanced stages of tertiary syphilis\nand the third, a lady, had survived several operations for the\nremoval of the appendix and the ovaries. At the time she took up our\ntreatment she had been advised to undergo another operation for the\nremoval of the uterus.\n\nThese incurables had been exceedingly trying. More than once one or\nanother had quit, discouraged and disgusted, only to return, knowing\nthat, after all, Nature Cure was their only hope. After they left\nus, we lost track of them and often wondered how they were getting\non. Imagine our pleasant surprise when all three were reported by\nthe newcomers as being in good health. What if it did take months or\neven years to produce the desired results? What would have been the\nfate of these three patients if it had not been for slow Nature\nCure?\n\nDiscouraged patients frequently ask: \"Why do others recover so\nquickly when I show so little improvement? This cure seems to be all\nright for some diseases, but evidently it does not fit my case.\"\n\nThis is defective reasoning. True Nature Cure fits every case\nbecause it includes everything good in natural healing methods. In\nstubborn cases Nature Cure is not to blame for the slow and\nunsatisfactory results: the difficulty lies in the character and\nadvanced stage of the disease.\n\n\n\nChapter XXIII\n\n\nThe Treatment of Chronic Diseases\n\n\nLet us now consider the best methods for producing the healing\ncrises referred to in the preceding chapters, that is, the best\nmethods for treating the chronic forms of disease.\n\nWe found that acute diseases represent Nature's efforts to purify\nand regenerate the human organism by means of inflammatory feverish\nprocesses, while in the chronic condition the system is not capable\nof arousing itself to such acute reactions. The treatment must\ndiffer accordingly.\n\nThe Nature Cure treatment of acute diseases tends to relieve inner\ncongestion, to facilitate the radiation of heat and the elimination\nof morbid matter and systemic poisons from the body. In this way it\neases and palliates the feverish processes and keeps them below the\ndanger point without in any way checking or suppressing them.\n\nWhile our methods of treating acute diseases have a sedative effect,\nour treatment of chronic diseases is calculated to stimulate, that\nis, to arouse the sluggish organism to greater activity in order to\nproduce the acute inflammatory reactions or healing crises.\n\nIf the unity of diseases as demonstrated in a previous chapter is a\nfact in Nature, it must be possible to treat all chronic as well as\nall acute diseases by uniform methods, and the natural remedies must\ncorrespond to the primary causes of disease.\n\nThe Natural Methods of Treatment\n\nNatural methods of treatment may be divided into two groups:\n\nThose which the patient can apply himself, provided he has been\nproperly instructed in their correct selection, combination and\napplication. Those which must be applied by a competent Nature Cure\nphysician.\n\nTo the first group belong diet (fasting), bathing and other water\napplications, correct breathing, general physical exercise,\ncorrective gymnastics, air and sun baths, mental therapeutics.\n\nTo the second group belong special applications of the methods\nmentioned under group 1, and in addition to these hydropathy,\nmassage, manipulation, medical treatment in the form of homeopathic\nmedicines, nonpoisonous herb extracts and the vitochemical remedies,\nand most important of all, the right management of healing crises\nwhich develop under the natural treatment of chronic diseases.\n\nDiagnosis\n\nCorrect diagnosis is the first essential to rational treatment.\nEvery honest physician admits that the \"Old School\" methods of\ndiagnosis are, to say the least, unsatisfactory and uncertain,\nespecially in ascertaining the underlying causes of disease.\n\nTherefore we should welcome any and all methods of diagnosis which\nthrow more light on the causes and the nature of disease conditions\nin the human organism.\n\nTwo valuable additions to diagnostic science are now offered to us\nin osteopathy and in the Diagnosis from the Eye.\n\nOsteopathy furnishes valuable information concerning the connection\nbetween disease conditions and misplacements of vertebrae and other\nbony structures, contractions or abnormal relaxation of muscles and\nligaments, and inflammation of nerves and nerve centers.\n\nThe Diagnosis from the Eye is as yet a new science, and much remains\nto be discovered and to be better explained. We do not claim that\nNature's records in the eye disclose all the details of pathological\ntendencies and changes, but they do reveal many disease conditions,\nhereditary and acquired, that cannot be ascertained by any other\nmethods of diagnosis.\n\nOmitting consideration of everything that is at present speculative\nand uncertain, we are justified in making the following statements:\n\nThe eye is not only, as the ancients said, \"the mirror of the soul,\"\nbut it also reveals abnormal conditions and changes in every part\nand organ of the body. Every organ and part of the body is\nrepresented in the iris of the eye in a well-defined area. The iris\nof the eye contains an immense number of minute nerve filaments,\nwhich through the optic nerves, the optic brain centers and the\nspinal cord are connected with and receive impressions from every\nnerve in the body. The nerve filaments, muscle fibers and minute\nblood vessels in the different areas of the iris reproduce the\nchanging conditions in the corresponding parts or organs. By means\nof various marks, signs, abnormal colors and discolorations in the\niris, Nature reveals transmitted disease taints and hereditary\nlesions. Nature also makes known, by signs, marks and\ndiscolorations, acute and chronic inflammatory or catarrhal\nconditions, local lesions, destruction of tissues, various drug\npoisons and changes in structures and tissues caused by accidental\ninjury or by surgical mutilations. The Diagnosis from the Eye\npositively confirms Hahnemann's theory that all acute diseases have\na constitutional background of hereditary or acquired disease\ntaints. This science enables the diagnostician to ascertain, from\nthe appearance of the iris alone, the patient's inherited or\nacquired tendencies toward health and toward disease, his condition\nin general and the state of every organin particular. Reading\nNature's records in the eye, he can predict the different healing\ncrises through which the patient will have to pass on the road to\nhealth. The eye reveals dangerous changes in vital parts and organs\nfrom their inception, thus enabling the patient to avert any\nthreatening disease by natural living and natural methods of\ntreatment. By changes in the iris, the gradual purification of the\nsystem, the elimination of morbid matter and poisons, and the\nreadjustment of the organism to normal conditions under the\nregenerating influences of natural living and treatment are\nfaithfully recorded.\n\nThis interesting subject will be treated more fully in a separate\nvolume (~Iridiagnosis,~ published in 1919 by Dr. Lindlahr). In this\nconnection I shall confine myself to relating briefly the story of\nthe discovery of this valuable science.\n\nThe Story of a Great Discovery\n\nDr. Von Peckzely, of Budapest, Hungary, discovered Nature's records\nin the eye, quite by accident, when a boy ten years of age.\n\nPlaying one day in the garden at his home, he caught an owl. While\nstruggling with the bird, he broke one of its limbs. Gazing straight\ninto the owl's large, bright eyes, he noticed, at the moment when\nthe bone snapped, the appearance of a black spot in the lower\ncentral region of the iris, which area he later found to correspond\nto the location of the broken leg.\n\nThe boy put a splint on the broken limb and kept the owl as a pet.\nAs the fracture healed, he noticed that the black spot in the iris\nbecame overdrawn with a white film and surrounded by a white border\n(denoting the formation of scar tissues in the broken bone).\n\nThis incident made a lasting impression on the mind of the future\ndoctor. It often recurred to him in later years. From further\nobservations he gained the conviction that abnormal physical\nconditions are portrayed in the eyes.\n\nAs a student, Von Peckzely became involved in the revolutionary\nmovement of 1848 and was put in prison as an agitator and\nringleader. During his confinement, he had plenty of time and\nleisure to pursue his favorite theory and he became more and more\nconvinced of the importance of his discovery. After his release, he\nentered upon the study of medicine, in order to develop his\nimportant discoveries and to confirm them more fully in the\noperating and dissecting rooms. He had himself enrolled as an\ninterne in the surgical wards of the college hospital. Here he had\nample opportunity to observe the eyes of patients before and after\naccidents and operations, and in that manner he was enabled to\nelaborate the first accurate Chart of the Eye.\n\nSince Von Peckzely gave his discoveries to the world, many\nwell-known scientists and conscientious observers in Austria,\nGermany and Sweden have devoted their lives to the perfection of\nthis wonderful science. The regular schools of medicine, as a body,\nhave ignored and will ignore it, because it discloses the fallacy of\ntheir favorite theories and practices, and because it reveals\nunmistakably the direful results of chronic drug poisoning and\nill-advised operations.\n\nIn our work we do not confine ourselves to the Diagnosis from the\nEye, but combine with it the diagnostic methods (physical diagnosis)\nof the regular school of medicine and the osteopathic diagnosis of\nbony lesions, as well as microscopic examinations and chemical\nanalyses.\n\nThus any one of these methods supplements and verifies all the\nothers. In this way only is it possible to arrive at a thorough and\ndefinite understanding of the patient's condition.\n\nThe \"Key to the Diagnosis from the Eye\" outlines with precision the\nareas of the iris as they correspond to the various parts of the\nbody. This colored chart of the iris has been prepared by Dr. H.\nLahn, author of \"The Diagnosis From the Eye,\" and can be obtained\nfrom the Kosmos Publishing Co., 2112 Sherman Ave., Evanston, Ill.\n\n\n\nChapter XXIV\n\n\nVitality\n\n\nIn Chapter Four, we named, as the first of the primary causes of\ndisease, lowered vitality.\n\nWhat can we do to increase vitality? \"Old School\" physicians and\npeople in general seem to think that this can be done by consuming\nlarge quantities of nourishing food and drink and by the use of\nstimulants and tonics.\n\nThe constant cry of patients is: \"Doctor, if you could only\nprescribe some good tonic or some food that will give me strength,\nthen I should be all right! I am sure that is all I need to be\ncured.\"\n\nWe fully agree with the patient that he needs more vitality to\novercome disease, but unfortunately this cannot be obtained from\nfood and drink, from stimulants and tonics.\n\nVitality, life, life force, whatever we may call it or whatever its\naspect, is not something we can eat and drink. It is independent of\nthe physical body and of material food. If the body should \"fall\ndead,\" as we call it, the life force would continue to act just as\nvigorously in the spiritual body, which is the exact counterpart of\nthe physical organism.\n\nThe physical-material body as well as the spiritual-material body\nare only the instruments for the manifestation of the life force.\nThey are no more life itself than the violin is the artist.\n\nBut just as the violin must be kept in good condition in order to\nenable the artist to draw from it the harmonies of sound, so food\nand drink are necessary to keep the physical body in the best\npossible condition for the manifestation of vital force. The more\nnormal our physical and spiritual bodies are in structure and\nfunction, the more harmonious our thought life and emotional life,\nthe more abundant will be the influx of vital force into the twofold\norganism.\n\nThis important subject has been treated more fully in Chapter IV.\n\nIgnorance of these simple truths leads to the most serious mistakes.\nPhysicians and people in general do not stop to think that excessive\neating and drinking tend to rob the body of vitality instead of\nsupplying it.\n\nThe processes of digestion, assimilation and elimination of food and\ndrink in themselves require a considerable expenditure of vital\nforce. Therefore all food taken in excess of the actual needs of the\nbody consumes life force that should be available for other\npurposes, for the execution of physical and mental work.\n\nThe Romans had a proverb: \"Plenus venter non studet libenter\"--\"A\nfull stomach does not like to study.\" The most wholesome food, if\ntaken in excess, will clog the system with waste matter just as too\nmuch coal will dampen and extinguish the fire in the furnace.\n\nFurthermore, the morbid materials and systemic poisons produced by\nimpure, unsuitable or wrongly combined foods will clog the cells and\ntissues of the body, cause unnecessary friction and obstruct the\ninflow and the operations of the vital energies, just as dust in a\nwatch will clog and impede the movements of its mechanism.\n\nThe greatest artist living cannot draw harmonious sounds from the\nstrings of the finest Stradivarius if the body of the violin is\nfilled with dust and rubbish. Likewise, the life force cannot act\nperfectly in a body filled with morbid encumbrances.\n\nThe human organism is capable of liberating and manifesting daily a\nlimited quantity of vital force, just as a certain amount of capital\nin the bank will yield a specified sum of interest in a given time.\nIf more than the available interest be withdrawn, the capital in the\nbank will be decreased and gradually exhausted.\n\nSimilarly, if we spend more than our daily allowance of vital force,\n\"nervous bankruptcy,\" that is, nervous prostration or neurasthenia\nwill be the result.\n\nIt is the duty of the physician to regulate the expenditure of vital\nforce according to the income. He must stop all leaks and guard\nagainst wastefulness.\n\nStimulation by Paralysis\n\nThis heading may seem paradoxical, but it is borne out by fact.\nStimulants are poison to the system. Few people realize that their\nexhilarating and apparently tonic effects are produced by the\nparalysis of an important part of the nervous system.\n\nIf, as we have learned, wholesome food and drink in themselves do\nnot contain and therefore cannot convey life force to the human\nbody, much less can this be accomplished by stimulants.\n\nThe human body has many correspondences with a watch. Both have a\nmotor or driving mechanism and an inhibitory or restraining\napparatus.\n\nIf it were not for the inhibiting balances, the wound watchspring\nwould run off and spend its force in a few moments. The expenditure\nof the latent force in the wound spring must be regulated by the\ninhibitory and balancing mechanism of the timepiece.\n\nSimilarly, the nervous system in the animal and human organism\nconsists of two main divisions: the motor or driving and the\ninhibitory or restraining mechanisms.\n\nThe driving power is furnished by the sympathetic nerves and the\nmotor nerves. They convey the vital energies and nerve impulses to\nthe cells and organs of the body, thus initiating and regulating\ntheir activities.\n\nWe found that the human body is capable of liberating in a given\ntime, say, in twenty-four hours, only a certain limited amount of\nvital energy, just as the wound spring of the watch is capable of\nliberating in a given time only a certain amount of kinetic energy.\n\nAs in the watch the force of the spring is controlled by the\nregulating balances (the anchor), so in the body the expenditure of\nvital energy must be regulated in such a manner that it is evenly\ndistributed over the entire running time. This is accomplished by\nthe inhibitory nervous system [the parasympathetics].\n\nEvery motor nerve must be balanced by an inhibitory nerve. The one\nfurnishes the driving force, the other applies the brake. For\ninstance, the heart muscle is supplied with motor force through the\nspinal nerves from the upper dorsal region, while the pneumogastric\n[vagus] nerve retards the action of the heart and in that way acts\nas a brake.\n\nAnother brake is supplied by the waste products of metabolism in the\nsystem, the uric acid, carbonic acid, oxalic acid, etc., and the\nmany forms of xanthines, alkaloids, and ptomaines. As these\naccumulate in the organism during the hours of wakeful activity,\nthey gradually clog the capillary circulation, benumb brain and\nnerves, and thus produce a feeling of exhaustion and tiredness and a\ncraving for rest and sleep.\n\nIn this way, by means of the inhibitory nervous system and of the\naccumulating fatigue products in the body, Nature forces the\norganism to rest and recuperate when the available supply of vital\nforce runs low. The lower the level of vital force, the more\npowerful will become the inhibitory influences.\n\nNow we can understand why stimulation is produced by paralysis.\nStimulants precipitate the fatigue products from the circulation\ninto the tissues of the body. They do this by overcoming and\nparalyzing the power of the blood to dissolve and carry in solution\nuric acid and other acids and alkaloids that should be eliminated\nfrom the organism. Thus will be explained more fully in the volume on\n\"Natural Dietetics.\"\n\nFurthermore, stimulants temporarily benumb and paralyze the\ninhibitory nervous system. In other words, they lift the brakes from\nthe motor nervous system, and allow the driving powers to run wild\nwhen Nature wanted them to slow up or stop.\n\nTo illustrate: A man has been working hard all day. Toward night his\navailable supply of vitality has run low, his system is filled with\nuric acid, carbonic acid and other benumbing fatigue products, and\nhe feels tired and sleepy, At this juncture he receives word that he\nmust sit up all night with a sick relative. In order to brace\nhimself for the extraordinary demand upon his vitality, our friend\ntakes a cup of strong coffee, or a drink of whisky, or whatever his\nfavorite stimulant may be.\n\nThe effect is marvelous. The tired feeling disappears, and he feels\nas though he could remain awake all night without effort.\n\nWhat has produced this apparent renewal and increase of vital\nenergy? Has the stimulant added to his system one iota of vitality?\nThis cannot be, because stimulants do not contain anything that\ncould impart vital force to the organism. What, then, has produced\nthe seemingly strengthening effect?\n\nThe caffeine, alcohol or whatever the stimulating poison may have\nbeen has precipitated the fatigue products from the blood and\ndeposited them in the tissues and organs of the body. Furthermore,\nthe stimulant has benumbed the inhibitory nerves; in other words, it\nhas lifted the brakes from the driving part of the organism, so that\nthe wheels are running wild.\n\nBut this means drawing upon the reserve supplies of nerve fats and\nof the vital energy stored in them, which Nature wants to save for\nextraordinary demands upon the system in times of illness or extreme\nexertion. Therefore this procedure is contrary to Nature's\nintent. Nature tried to force the tired body to rest and sleep, so\nthat it could store up a new supply of vital force.\n\nUnder the paralyzing influence of the stimulant upon the inhibitory\nnerves, the organism now draws upon the reserve stores of nerve fats\nand vital energies for the necessary strength to accomplish the\nextra nightwork.\n\nAt the same time, the organism remains awake and active during the\ntime it should be replenishing energy for the next day's work, which\nmeans that the latter also has to be done at the expense of the\nreserve supply of life force.\n\nDuring sleep only do we replenish our reserve stores of vitality.\nThe expenditure of vital energies ceases, but their liberation in\nthe system continues.\n\nTherefore sleep is the \"sweet restorer.\" Nothing can take its place.\nNo amount of food and drink, no tonics or stimulants can make up for\nthe loss of sleep. Continued complete deprivation of sleep is bound\nto end in a short time in physical and mental exhaustion, in\ninsanity and death.\n\nThat the body, during sleep, acts as a storage battery for vital\nenergy is proved by the fact that in deep, sound sleep the aura\ndisappears entirely from around the body.\n\nThe aura is to the organism what the exhaust steam is to the engine.\nIt is formed by the electromagnetic fluids which have performed\ntheir work in the body and then escape from it, giving the\nappearance of a many-colored halo.\n\nWith the first awakening of conscious mental activity after sleep,\nthe aura appears, indicating that the expenditure of vital force has\nrecommenced.\n\nIn the above diagram we have an illustration of the true effect of\nstimulants upon the system. The heavy line A-B represents the normal\nlevel of available vital energy in a certain body for a given time,\nsay, for twenty-four hours. At point C a stimulant is taken. This\nparalyzes the inhibitory nerves and temporarily precipitates the\nfatigue products from the blood.\n\nAs we have seen, this allows an increased, unnatural expenditure of\nvital energy, which raises the latter to point D. But when the\neffect of the stimulant has been spent, the vital energy drops from\nthe artificially attained high point not only back to the normal\nlevel, but below it to point E.\n\nThe increased expenditure of vital energy was made possible at the\nexpense of the reserve supply of vitality; therefore the depression\nfollowing it is in proportion to the preceding stimulation. This is\nin accordance with the law: \"Action and reaction are equal, but\nopposite.\"\n\nThe falling of the vital energy below the normal to point E is\naccompanied by a feeling of exhaustion and depression which creates\na desire to repeat the pleasurable experience of an abundant supply\nof vitality, and thus leads to a repetition of the artificial\nstimulation. As a result of this, the expenditure of vitality is\nagain raised above the normal to point F, only to fall again below\nthe normal, to G, etc.\n\nIn this way the person who resorts to stimulants to keep up his\nstrength or to increase it, is never normal, never on the level,\nnever at his best. He is either overstimulated or abnormally\ndepressed. His efforts are bound to be fitful and his work uneven in\nquality. Furthermore, it will be only a matter of time until he\nexhausts his reserve supply of nerve fats and vital energy and then\nsuffers nervous bankruptcy in the forms of nervous prostration,\nneurasthenia or insanity.\n\nSuch a person is acting like the spendthrift whose capital in the\nbank allows him to expend ten dollars a day, but who, instead, draws\nseveral times the amount of his legitimate daily interest. There can\nbe but one outcome to this: in due time the cashier will inform him\nthat his account is overdrawn.\n\nThe same principles hold true with regard to stimulants given at the\nsickbed.\n\nOne of the arguments I constantly hear from students and physicians\nof the \"Old School\" of medicine is: \"Some of your methods may be all\nright, but what would you do at the sickbed of a patient who is so\nweak and low that he may die at any moment? Would you just let him\ndie? Would you not give him something to keep him alive?\"\n\nI certainly would, if I could. But I do not believe that poisons can\ngive life. If there is enough vitality in that dying body to react\nto the poisonous stimulant by a temporary increase of vital\nactivity, then that same amount of vitality will keep the heart\nbeating and the respiration going a little longer at the slower\npace. Nature regulates the heartbeat and the other functions\naccording to the amount and availability of vital force. If the\nheart beats slow, it is because Nature is trying to economize\nvitality.\n\nIn the inevitable depression following the artificial whipping up of\nthe vital energies, many times the flame is snuffed out entirely\nwhen otherwise it might have continued to burn at the slower rate\nfor some time longer.\n\nHowever, I do not deny the advisability of administering stimulants\nin cases of shock. When a shock has caused the stopping of the\nwheels of life, another shock by a stimulant may set them in motion\nagain.\n\nThe Effects of Stimulants upon the Mind\n\nThe mental and emotional exhilaration accompanying the indulgence in\nalcohol or other poisonous stimulants is produced in a similar\nmanner as the apparent increase of physical strength under the\ninfluence of these agents. Here, also, the temporary stimulation and\nseeming increase of power are effected by paralysis of the governing\nand restraining faculties of mind and soul: of reason, modesty,\nreserve, caution, reverence, etc.\n\nThe moral, mental and emotional capacities and powers of the human\nentity are governed by the same principle of dual action that\ncontrols physical activity. We have on the one hand the motor or\ndriving impulses, and on the other hand the restraining and\ninhibiting influences.\n\nIn these higher realms appetite, passion, imagination and desire\ncorrespond to the motor nervous system in the physical organism, and\nthe power of the will and the reasoning faculties represent the\ninhibitory nervous system.\n\nThe exhilarating and stimulating influence of alcohol and narcotics\nsuch as opiates or hashish upon the animal spirits and the emotional\nand imaginative faculties is caused by the benumbing and paralyzing\neffect of these stimulants upon the powers of will, reason and\nself-control, the brakes on the lower appetites, passions and\ndesires which fire the emotional nature and the imagination.\nHowever, what is gained in feeling and imagination, is lost in\njudgment and logic.\n\nAlcohol, nicotine, caffein, theobromine, lupulin (the bitter\nprinciple of hops), opium, cocaine, morphine, etc., when given in\ncertain doses, all affect the human organism in a similar manner.\n\nIn small quantities they seemingly stimulate and animate; in larger\namounts they depress and stupefy. In reality, they are paralyzers\nfrom the beginning in every instance, and their apparent, temporary\ntonic effect is deceptive. They benumb and paralyze not only the\nphysical organism, but also the higher and highest mental and moral\nqualities, capacities and powers.\n\nThese higher and finer qualities are located in the front part of\nthe brain. In the evolution of the species from lower to higher, the\nbrain gradually developed and enlarged in a forward direction. Thus\nwe find in the lowest order of fishes that all they possess of brain\nmatter is a small protuberance at the end of the spinal cord. As the\nspecies and families rose in the scale of evolution, the brain\ndeveloped proportionately from behind forward and became\ndifferentiated into three distinct divisions: the medulla oblongata,\nthe cerebellum, and the cerebrum.\n\nThe medulla oblongata, situated at the base of the brain where it\njoins the spinal cord, contains those brain centers that control the\npurely vegetative, vital functions: the circulation of the blood,\nthe respiration, regulation of animal heat, etc.\n\nThe cerebellum, in front of and above the medulla, is the seat of\nthe centers for the coordination of muscular activities and for\nmaintaining the equilibrium of the body.\n\nThe frontal brain or cerebrum contains the centers for the sensory\norgans, also the motor centers which supply the driving impulses for\nthe muscular activities of the body, and in the occipital and\nfrontal lobes, the centers for the higher and highest qualities of\nmind and soul, which constitute the governing and restraining\nfaculties on which depend the powers of self-control.\n\nThus we see that the development of the brain has been in a forward\ndirection, from the upper extremity of the spinal cord to the\nfrontal lobes of the cerebrum, from the low, vegetative qualities of\nthe animal and the savage to the complex and refined activities of\nthe highly civilized and trained mind.\n\nIt is an interesting and most significant fact that paralysis of\nbrain centers caused by alcohol and other stimulants, or by\nhypnotics and narcotics, proceeds reversely to the order of their\ndevelopment during the processes of evolution.\n\nThe first to succumb are the brain centers in the frontal lobes of\nthe cerebrum, which control the latest-developed and most-refined\nhuman attributes. These are: modesty, caution, reserve, reverence,\naltruism. Then follow in the order given: memory, reason, logic,\nintelligence, will power, self-control, the control of muscular\ncoordination and equilibrium and finally consciousness and the vital\nactivities of heart action and respiration.\n\nWhen the conscious activities of the soul have been put to sleep,\nthe paralysis extends to the subconscious activities of life or\nvital force. Respiration and heart action become weak and labored,\nand may finally cease entirely.\n\nIn order to verify this, let us study the effects of alcohol, the\nbest-known and most-used of stimulants. Many people believe that\nalcohol increases not only physical strength, but mental energy\nalso. Regular medical science considers it a valuable tonic in all\ncases of physical and mental depression. It is often administered in\nsurgical operations and in accidents with the idea of prolonging\nlife. I have frequently found the whisky or brandy bottle at the\nbedside of infants and on it the directions of the attending\nphysician.\n\nWatch the effect of this tonic on a group of convivial spirits at a\nbanquet. Full honor is done to the art of the chef, and the wine\nflows freely. The flow of animal spirits increases proportionately;\nconviviality, wit and humor rise by leaps and bounds. But the\napparent joy and happiness are in reality nothing but the play of\nthe lower animal impulses, unrestrained by the higher powers of mind\nand soul.\n\nThe words of the afterdinner speaker who, when sober, is a sedate\nand earnest gentleman, flow with unusual ease. The close and\nunprejudiced observer notices, however, that what the speaker has\ngained in eloquence, loquacity and exuberance of style and\nexpres-sion, he has lost in logic, clearness and good sense.\n\nAs King Alcohol tightens his grasp on the merry company, the\ntoasters and speakers lose more and more their control over speech\nand actions. What was at first mischievous abandon and merry jest,\ngradually degenerates into loquaciousness, coarseness and querulous\nbrawls. Here and there one of the maudlin crowd drops off in the\nstupor of drunkenness.\n\nIf the liquor is strong enough and if the debauch is continued long\nenough, it may end in complete paralysis of the vital functions or\nin death.\n\nHypnotism and Obsession\n\nAgain, we find the seeming paradox of stimulation by paralysis\nexemplified in the phenomena of hypnotism and obsession. The\nabnormally exaggerated sensation, feeling and imagination of the\nsubject under hypnotic control are made possible because the higher,\ncritical and restraining faculties and powers of will, reason and\nself-control are temporarily or permanently benumbed and paralyzed\nby the stronger will of the hypnotist or of the obsessing\nintelligence.\n\nThere is a most interesting resemblance between the effects of\nstimulants, narcotics or hypnotic control and blind, unreasoning\nfaith. The latter also benumbs and paralyzes judgment and reason. It\ngives full sway to the powers of imagination and thus may produce\nseemingly miraculous results.\n\nThis explains the modus operandi of faith cures as well as the\nfitful strength of the intoxicated and the insane, or the beautiful\ndreams and delusions of grandeur of the drug addict.\n\nThe close resemblance and relationship between hypnotic control and\nfaith became vividly apparent to me while witnessing the performance\nof a professional hypnotist. His subject on the stage was a young\nwoman who, under his control, performed extraordinary feats of\nstrength and resistance. Several strong men could not lift or move\nher in any way.\n\nWhat was the reason? In the ordinary, waking condition her judgment\nand common sense would tell her: \"I cannot resist the combined\nstrength of these men. Of course, they can lift me and pull me here\nand there.\" As a result of this doubting state of mind, she would\nnot have the strength to resist.\n\nHowever, the control of the hypnotist had paralyzed her reasoning\nfaculties and therewith her capacity for judging, doubting and not\nbelieving. Her subconscious mind accepted without question or the\nshadow of a doubt the suggestion of the hypnotist that she did\npossess the strength to resist the combined efforts of the men and\nas a result she actually manifested the necessary powers of\nresistance.\n\nIt is an established fact that the impressions (records) made upon\nthe subconscious mind under certain conditions as, for instance,\nunder hypnotic influence absolutely control the activities of the\nphysical body.\n\nDoes not this throw an interesting light on the power of absolute\nfaith, on the saying: \"Everything is possible to him who believeth?\"\nBlind, unreasoning faith benumbs and paralyzes judgment and reason\nin similar manner as hypnotic control or stimulants and in that way\ngives free and full sway to the powers of imagination and\nautosuggestion for good or ill, for white magic or black magic,\naccording to the purpose for which faith is exerted.\n\nIt also becomes apparent that such blind, unreasoning faith cannot\nbe constructive in its influence upon the higher mental, moral and\nspiritual faculties. These can be developed only by the conscious\nand voluntary exercise of will, reason and self-control.\n\nFrom the foregoing it will have become evident that we cannot\nincrease vital force in the body through any artificial means or\nmethods from without, by food, drink or stimulant. What we can and\nshould do, however, is to put the organism into the best possible\ncondition for the liberation and manifestation of life force or\nvital energy.\n\nThe more normal the chemical composition of the blood, and the more\nfree the tissues are from clogging impurities, poisons and\nmechanical obstructions, such as lesions of the spinal column, the\nmore abundant will be the liberation and the available supply of\nvital energy.\n\nTherefore perfect, buoyant health, which ensures the greatest\npossible efficiency and enjoyment of life, can be attained and\nmaintained only by strict adherence to the natural ways of living\nand, when necessary, by the natural treatment of diseases.\n\n\n\nChapter XXV\n\n\nNatural Dietetics\n\n\nThe chemical composition of blood and lymph depends upon the\nchemical composition of food and drink, and upon the normal or\nabnormal condition of the digestive organs.\n\nThe purer the food and drink, the less it contains of morbid matter\nand poison-producing materials and the more it contains of the\nelements necessary for the proper execution of the manifold\nfunctions of the organism, for the building and repair of tissues\nand for the neutralization and elimination of waste and systemic\npoisons, the more \"normal\" and the more \"natural\" will be the diet.\n\nThe system of dietetics of the Nature Cure school is based upon the\ncomposition of MILK, which is the only perfect natural food\ncombination in existence.\n\nIn its composition, milk corresponds very closely to red, arterial\nblood and contains all the elements which the newborn and growing\norganism needs in exactly the right proportions, providing, of\ncourse, that the human or animal body which produces the milk is in\ngood health and lives on pure and normal foods.\n\nTherefore, if any food combination or diet is to be \"normal\" or\n\"natural,\" it must approach in its chemical composition the chemical\ncomposition of milk or of red, arterial blood. This furnishes a\nstrictly scientific basis for an exact science of dietetics, and\nproves true not only in the chemical aspect of the diet problem, but\nalso in every other aspect and in its practical application.\n\nThe \"regular\" school of medicine pays little or no attention to\nrational food regulation. In fact, it knows nothing about it,\nbecause \"natural dietetics\" are as yet not taught in medical\nschools. As a result of this condition, the dietary advice given by\nthe majority of Old School practitioners is something as follows:\n\"Eat what agrees with you: plenty of good, nourishing food. There is\nnothing in dietetic fads. What is one man's meat is another man's\npoison, etc.\"\n\nHowever, if we study dietetics from a strictly scientific point of\nview, we find that certain foods--among these especially the highly\nvalued flesh foods, eggs, pulses and cereals--create in the system\nlarge quantities of morbid, poisonous substances, while on the other\nhand fruits and vegetables, which are rich in the organic salts,\ntend to neutralize and to eliminate from the system the waste\nmaterials and poisons created in the processes of protein and starch\ndigestion.\n\nThe accumulations of waste and systemic poisons are the cause of the\nmajority of diseases arising within the human organism. Therefore it\nis imperative that the neutralizing and eliminating food elements be\nprovided in sufficient quantities.\n\nOn this turns the entire problem of natural dietetics. While the\n\"Old School\" of medicine looks upon starches, sugars, fats and\nproteins as the only elements of nutrition worthy of consideration,\nNature Cure aims to reduce these foods in the natural dietary and to\nincrease the purifying and eliminating fruits and vegetables.\n\nIn this volume we cannot go into the details of the diet question.\nThey will be treated in full in our ~Vegetarian Cookbook~ and in our\nvolume on ~Natural Dietetics.~ We shall say here in a general way\nthat in the treatment of chronic diseases, with few exceptions, we\nfavor a strict vegetarian diet for the reason that most chronic\ndiseases are created, as before stated, by the accumulation of the\n\"feces of the cells\" in the system.\n\nEvery piece of animal flesh is saturated with these excrements of\nthe cells in the form of uric acid and many other kinds of acids,\nalkaloids of putrefaction, xanthines, ptomaines, etc. The organism\nof the meat eater must dispose not only of its own impurities\nproduced in the processes of digestion and of cell metabolism, but\nalso of the morbid substances that are already contained in the\nanimal flesh.\n\nSince the cure of chronic diseases consists largely in purifying the\nbody of morbid materials, it stands to reason that a \"chronic\" must\ncease taking these in his daily food and drink. To do otherwise\nwould be like sweeping the dirt out of a house through the front\ndoor and carrying it in again through the back door.\n\nWhether one approves of strict vegetarianism as a continuous mode of\nliving or not, it will be admitted that the change from a meat diet\nto a nonmeat diet must be of great benefit in the treatment of\nchronic diseases.\n\nThe cure of chronic conditions depends upon radical changes in the\ncells and tissues of the body, as explained in Chapter Twenty. The\nold, abnormal, faulty diet will continue to build the same abnormal\nand disease-encumbered tissues. The more thorough and radical the\nchange in diet toward normality and purity, the quicker the cells\nand tissues of the body will change toward the normal and thus bring\nabout a complete regeneration of the organism.\n\nAnything short of this may be palliative treatment, but is not\nworthy the name of cure.\n\nNatural Foods\n\nIn the following I shall give the outline a natural diet regimen\nwhich has been found by experience to meet all requirements of the\nhealthy organism, even when people have to work very hard physically\nor mentally. In case of disease, certain modifications may have to\nbe made according to individual conditions. Persons in a low,\nnegative state, whether physical, mental or psychical, may\ntemporarily require the addition of flesh foods to their diet.\n\nDietetics In A Nutshell\n\nFood Classes\n\nPredominant\n\nChemical\n\nElements\n\nFunctions in Vital Processes\n\nFoods in Which the Elements of the Respective Groups Predominate\n\nGROUP I\n\nCarbohydrates\n\nStarches and Dextrines\n\nCarbon\n\nOxygen\n\nHydrogen\n\nProducers of Heat and Energy\n\nCEREALS: The inner, white parts of wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley,\nbuckewheat and rice. VEGETABLES: Potatoes, pumpkins, squashes.\nFRUITS: Bananas. NUTS: Chestnuts\n\nGROUP II\n\nCarbohydrates\n\nSugars\n\nCarbon\n\nOxygen\n\nHydrogen\n\nProducers of\n\nHeat and\n\nEnergy\n\nVEGETABLES: Melons, beets, sorghum. FRUITS: Bananas, dates, figs,\ngrapes, raisins. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Milk. NATURAL SUGARS: Honey, maple\nsugar. COMMERCIAL SUGARS: White sugar, syrup, glucose, candy. NUTS:\nCocoanuts.\n\nGROUP III\n\nHydrocarbons\n\nFats and\n\nOils\n\nCarbon\n\nOxygen\n\nHydrogen\n\nProducers of\n\nHeat and\n\nEnergy\n\nFRUITS: Olives. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Cream, butter, cheese. NUTS:\nPeanuts, almonds, walnuts, cocoanuts, Brazil nuts, pecans,\npignolias, etc. COMMERCIAL FATS: Olive oil, peanut oil, peanut\nbutter, vegetable-cooking oils. THE YOKES OF EGGS\n\nGROUP IV\n\nProteids\n\nAlbumen\n\n(white of egg)\n\nGluten\n\n(grains)\n\nMyosin\n\n(lean meat)\n\nCarbon\n\nOxygen\n\nHydrogen\n\nNitrogen\n\nPhosphorus\n\nSulphur\n\nProducers of Heat and Energy;\n\nBuilding Materials for Cells and Tissues\n\nCEREALS: The outer, dark parts of wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley,\nbuckwheat, and rice. VEGETABLES: The legumes (peas, beans, lentils),\nmushrooms. NUTS: Cocoanuts, chestnuts, peanuts, pignolias (pine\nnuts), hickorynuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, etc. DAIRY PRODUCTS:\nMilk, cheese. MEATS: Muscular parts of animals, fish, and fowls.\n\nGROUP V\n\nOrganic Minerals\n\nOrganic\n\nMineral\n\nElements\n\nSodium\n\nNa\n\nFerrum (Iron)\n\nFe\n\nCalcium (Lime)\n\nCa\n\nPotassium\n\nK\n\nMagnesium\n\nMg\n\nManganese\n\nMn\n\nSilicon\n\nSi\n\nChlorine\n\nCl\n\nFlourine\n\nFl\n\nEliminators:\n\nBone, Blood, and Nerve\n\nBuilders;\n\nAntiseptics:\n\nBlood Purifiers;\n\nLaxitives;\n\nCholagogues;\n\nProducers of\n\nElectro-magnetic Energies\n\nTHE RED BLOOD OF ANIMALS. CEREALS: The hulls and outer, dark layers\nof grains and rice. VEGETABLES: Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, green\npeppers, watercress, celery, onions, asparagus, cauliflower,\ntomatoes, string-beans, fresh peas, parsley, cucumbers, radishes,\nsavoy, horseradish, dandelion, beets, carrots, turnips, eggplant,\nkohlrabi, oysterplant, artichokes, leek, rosekale (Brussels\nsprouts), parsnips, pumpkins, squashes, sorghum. FRUITS: Apples,\npears, peaches, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, plums, prunes,\napricots, cherries, olives. BERRIES: Strawberries, huckleberries,\ncranb \\erries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries,\ncurrants. DAIRY PRODUCTS: Milk, buttermilk, skimmed milk. NUTS:\nCocoanuts.\n\nIn the accompanying table entitled \"Dietics In A Nutshell\" we have\ndivided all food materials into five groups:\n\nGROUP:\n\n(Carbohydrates): Starches. (Carbohydrates): Dextrins and sugars.\n(Hydrocarbons): Fats and oils. (Proteids): white of egg, lean meat,\nthe gluten of grains and pulses, the proteins of nuts and milk.\n(Organic Minerals): Iron, sodium calcium, potassium, magnesium,\nsilicon. These are contained in largest amounts in the juicy fruits\nand the leafy, juicy vegetables.\n\nAs a general rule, let one-half of your food consist of Group V and\nthe other half of a mixture of the first four groups.\n\nIf you wish to follow a pure food diet, exclude meat, fish, fowl,\nmeat soups and sauces and all other foods prepared from the dead\nanimal carcass.\n\nThis is brief and comprehensive. When in doubt, consult this rule.\n\nAlso do not use coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages, tobacco or\nstimulants of any kind.\n\nGood foods are:\n\nDairy Products: milk, buttermilk, skimmed milk, cream, butter, fresh\ncottage cheese. fermented cheeses, as American, Swiss, Holland and\nDeBrie, should be used sparingly. The stronger cheeses like\nCamembert and Roquefort should not be used at all\n\nEggs: Raw, soft-boiled or poached, not fried or hard-boiled. Eggs\nshould be used sparingly. Two eggs three times a week or on an\naverage one egg a day, is sufficient.\n\nWhite of egg is much easier to digest than the yolk, therefore the\nwhites only should be used in cases of very weak digestion. Beaten\nup with orange juice, they are both palatable and wholesome; or they\nmay be beaten very stiff and served cold with a sauce of prune juice\nor other cooked fruit juices. This makes a delicious and very\nnutritive dish.\n\nHoney is a very valuable food and a natural laxative. It is not\ngenerally known that honey is not a purely vegetable product, but\nthat in passing through the organism of the bee it partakes of its\nlife element (animal magnetism).\n\nHoney is one of the best forms of sugar available. The white sugar\nis detrimental to health, because it has become inorganic through\nthe refining process. The brown, unrefined granulated sugar or maple\nsugar should be used instead.\n\nFigs, dates, raisins, bananas and all the other sweet fruits are\nexcellent to satisfy the craving of the organism for sweets.\n\nCereal Foods: Rice, wheat, oats, barley, are good when properly\ncombined with fruits and vegetables and with dairy products. Use\npreferably the whole-grain preparations such as shredded wheat or\ncorn flakes. Oatmeal is not easily digestible; it is all right for\nrobust people working in the open air, but not so good for invalids\nand people of sedentary habits.\n\nThin mushes are not to be recommended, because they do not require\nmastication and therefore escape the action of the saliva, which is\nindispensable to the digestion of starchy foods.\n\nAvoid the use of white bread or any other white-flour products,\nespecially pastry. White flour contains little more than the starchy\nelements of the grain. Most of the valuable proteins which are equal\nto meat in food value and the all-important organic salts which\nlodge in the hulls and the outer layers of the grain have been\nrefined out of it together with the bran. The latter is in itself\nvery valuable as a mechanical stimulant to the peristaltic action of\nthe bowels.\n\nIn preference to white bread eat Graham bread or whole rye bread.\nOur health bread forms the solid foundation of a well-balanced\nvegetarian diet. It is prepared as follows:\n\nTake one-third each of white flour, Graham flour and rye meal (not\nthe ordinary Bohemian rye flour, but the coarse pumpernickel meal\nwhich contains the whole of the rye, including the hull).\n\nMake a sponge of the white flour in the usual manner, either with\ngood yeast or with leavened dough from the last baking, which has\nbeen kept cold and sweet. When the sponge has risen sufficiently,\nwork the graham flour and rye meal into it. Thorough kneading is of\nimportance. Let rise slowly a second time, place in pans, and bake\nslowly until thoroughly done.\n\nBy chemical analysis this bread has been found to contain more\nnourishment than meat. It is very easily digested and assimilated\nand is a natural laxative. Eaten with sweet butter and in\ncombination with fruits and vegetables, it makes a complete and well\nbalanced meal.\n\nA good substitute for bread is the following excellent whole wheat\npreparation: Soak clean, soft wheat in cold water for about seven\nhours and steam in a double boiler for from eight to twelve hours,\nor cook in a fireless cooker over night. Eat with honey and milk or\ncream, or with prune juice, fig juice, etc., or add butter and dates\nor raisins. This dish is more nutritious than meat, and one of the\nfinest laxative foods in existence.\n\nNuts are exceedingly rich in fats (60 percent) and proteins (15\npercent), but rank low in mineral salts. Therefore they should be\nused sparingly, and always in combination with fruits, berries or\nvegetables. The coconut differs from the other nuts in that it\ncontains less fats and proteins and more organic salts. The meat of\nthe coconut together with its milk comes nearer to the chemical\ncomposition of human milk than any other food in existence.\n\nVegetables\n\nLeguminous Vegetables, such as peas, beans and lentils in the\nripened state are richer in protein than meat (25 percent), and\nbesides they contain a large percentage of starchy food elements (60\npercent); therefore they produce in the process of digestion large\nquantities of poisonous acids, alkaloids of putrefaction and noxious\ngases.\n\nThey should not be taken in large quantities and only in combination\ncooked or raw vegetables. As a dressing use lemon juice and olive\noil.\n\nPeas and beans in the green state differ very much from their\nchemical composition in the ripened state. As long as these\nvegetables are green and in the pulp, they contain large quantities\nof sugars and organic minerals, with but little starch and protein.\nAs the ripening process advances, the percentages of starches and\nproteins increase, while those of the sugars and of the organic\nminerals decrease. The latter retire into the leaves and stems\n(polarization).\n\nIn the green, pulpy state these foods may, therefore, be classed\nwith Group II (Sugars) and with Group V (Organic Minerals), while in\nthe ripened state they must be classed with Groups I (Starches) and\nGroups IV (Proteids).\n\nDried peas, beans and lentils are more palatable and wholesome when\ncooked in combination with tomatoes or prunes.\n\nThe Leafy and Juicy Vegetables growing in or near the ground are\nvery rich in the positive organic salts and therefore of great\nnutritive and medicinal value. For this reason they are best suited\nto balance the negative, acid-producing starches, sugars, fats and\nproteins.\n\nLettuce, spinach, cabbage, watercress, celery, parsley, savoy\ncabbage, brussels sprouts, Scotch kale, leek and endive rank highest\nin organic mineral salts. Next to these come tomatoes, cucumbers,\ngreen peppers, radishes, onions, asparagus, cauliflower and\nhorseradish.(See also Group V in \"Dietetics in a Nutshell.\")\n\nSplendid, cooling summer foods, rich in the blood-purifying organic\nsalts, are watermelons, muskmelons. cantaloupes, pumpkins, squashes\nand other members of the melon family.\n\nThe green vegetables are most beneficial when eaten raw, with a\ndressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Avoid the use of vinegar as\nmuch as possible. It is a product of fermentation and a powerful\npreservative which retards digestion as well as fermentation, both\nprocesses being very much of the same character.\n\nUse neither pepper nor salt at the table. They may be used sparingly\nin cooking. Strong spices and condiments are more or less irritating\nto the mucous linings of the intestinal tract. They paralyze\ngradually the nerves of taste. At first they stimulate the digestive\norgans; but, like all other stimulants, in time they produce\nweakness and atrophy.\n\nCooking of Vegetables\n\nWhile most vegetables are not improved by cooking, we do not mean\nthat they should never be cooked. Many diet reformers go to extremes\nwhen they claim that all the organic salts in fruits and vegetables\nare rendered inorganic by cooking. This is an exaggera-tion. Cooking\nis merely a mechanical process of subdivision, not a chemical\nprocess of transformation. Mechanical processes of division do not\ndissolve or destroy organic molecules to any great extent.\n\nNevertheless, it remains true that the green leafy vegetables are\nnot improved by cooking. It is different with the starchy tubers and\nroots like potatoes, turnips, etc., and with other starchy foods\nsuch as rice and grains. Here the cooking serves to break up and\nseparate the hard starch granules and to make them more pervious to\npenetration by the digestive juices.\n\nHow to Cook Vegetables\n\nAfter the vegetables are thoroughly washed and cut into pieces as\ndesired, place them in the cooking vessel, adding only enough water\nto keep them from burning, cover the vessel closely with a lid and\nlet them steam slowly in their own juices.\n\nThe leafy vegetables (cabbage, spinach, kale, etc.), usually contain\nenough water for their own steaming.\n\nCook all vegetables only as long as is required to make them soft\nenough for easy mastication. Do not throw away a drop of the water\nin which such vegetables as carrots, beets, asparagus, oyster plant,\negg plant, etc., have been cooked. Use what is left for the making\nof soups and sauces.\n\nThe organic mineral salts contained in the vegetables readily boil\nout into the water. If the vegetables, as is the usual custom, are\nboiled in a large quantity of water, then drained or, what is still\nworse, pressed out, they have lost their nutritive and medicinal\nvalue. The mineral salts have vanished in the sink, the remains are\ninsipid and indigestible and have to be soaked in soup stock and\nseasoned with strong condiments and spices to make them at all\npalatable.\n\nFruits and Berries\n\nNext to the leafy vegetables, fruits and berries are the most\nvaluable foods of the organic minerals group. Lemons, grapefruit,\noranges, apples are especially beneficial as blood purifiers. Plums,\npears, peaches, apricots, cherries, grapes, etc., contain large\namounts of fruit sugars in easily assimilable form and are also very\nvaluable on account of their mineral salts.\n\nThe different kinds of berries are even richer in mineral salts than\nthe acid and subacid fruits. In the country homes of Germany they\nare always at hand either dried or preserved to serve during the\nwinter not only as delicious foods but also as valuable home\nremedies.\n\nFruits and berries are best eaten raw, although they may be stewed\nor baked. Very few people know that rhubarb and cranberries are very\npalatable when cut up fine and well mixed with honey, being allowed\nto stand for about an hour before serving. Prepared in this way,\nthey require much less sweetening and therefore do not tax the\norganism nearly as much as the ordinary rhubarb or cranberry sauce,\nwhich usually contains an excessive amount of sugar.\n\nCooking of Fruits\n\nIt is better to cook apples, cranberries, rhubarb, strawberries, and\nall other acid fruits without sugar until soft, and to add the sugar\nafterward. Much less sugar will be required to sweeten them\nsufficiently than when the sugar is added before or during the\ncooking.\n\nDried fruits rank next to the fresh in value, as the evaporating\nprocess only removes a large percentage of water, without changing\nthe chemical composition of the fruit in any way. Prunes, apricots,\napples, pears, peaches and berries may be obtained in the dried\nstate all through the year. Dates, figs, raisins and currants also\ncome under this head.\n\nOlives are an excellent food. They are very rich in fats (about 50\npercent), and contain also considerable quantities of organic salts.\nThey are therefore a good substitute for animal fat.\n\nAvoid factory-canned fruits. In the first place, they have become\ndeteriorated by the cooking process and secondly, they usually\ncontain poisonous chemical preservatives. Home-preserved fruits and\nvegetables are all right providing they do not contain too much\nsugar and no poisonous preservative.\n\nBananas differ from the juicy fruits in that they consist almost\nentirely of starches, dextrines and sugars. They belong to the\ncarbohydrate groups and should be used sparingly by people suffering\nfrom intestinal indigestion.\n\nHowever, we do not share the belief entertained by many people that\nbananas are injurious under all circumstances. We consider them an\nexcellent food, especially for children.\n\nMixing Fruits and Vegetables\n\nMany people, when they first sit down to our table, are horrified to\nsee how we mix fruits and vegetables in the same meal. They have\nbeen taught that it is a cardinal sin against the laws of health to\ndo this. After they overcome their prejudice and partake heartily of\nthe meals as we serve them, they are greatly surprised to find that\nthese combinations of vegetables and juicy fruits are not only\nharmless, but agreeable and highly beneficial.\n\nWe have never been able to find any good reason why these foods\nshould not be mixed and our experience proves that no ill effects\ncan be traced to this practice except in very rare instances. There\nare a few individuals with whom the mixing of fruits and vegetables\ndoes not seem to agree. These, of course, should refrain from it. We\nmust comply with idiosyncrasies until they are overcome by natural\nliving.\n\nEating fruits only or vegetables only at one and the same meal\nlimits the selection and combination of foods to a very considerable\nextent and tends to create monotony, which is not only unpleasant\nbut injurious. The flow of saliva and of the digestive juices is\ngreatly increased by the agreeable sight, smell and taste of\nappetizing food and these depend largely upon its variety.\n\nWith very few exceptions, every one of our patients (and we have in\nour institution as fine a collection of dyspeptics as can be found\nanywhere) heartily enjoys our mixed dietary and is greatly benefited\nby it.\n\nMixing Starches and Acid Fruits\n\nOccasionally we find that one or another of our patients cannot eat\nstarchy foods and acid fruits at the same meal without experiencing\ndigestive disturbances. Whenever this is the case, it is best to\ntake with bread or cereals only sweet, alkaline fruits such as\nprunes, figs, dates, raisins, or, in their season, watermelons and\ncantaloupes or the alkaline vegetables such as radishes, lettuce,\nonions, cabbage slaw, etc. The acid and subacid fruits should then\nbe taken between those meals which consist largely of starchy foods.\n\nA Word About the Milk Diet\n\nWhen we explain that the natural diet is based upon the chemical\ncomposition of milk because milk is the only perfect natural food\ncombination in existence, the question comes up: \"Why, then, not\nlive on milk entirely?\" To this we reply: While milk is the natural\nfood for the newborn and growing infant, it is not natural for the\nadult. The digestive apparatus of the infant is especially adapted\nto the digestion of milk, while that of the adult requires more\nsolid and bulky food.\n\nMilk is a very beneficial article of diet in all acid diseases,\nbecause it contains comparatively low percentages of carbohydrates\nand proteins and large amounts of organic salts.\n\nHowever, not everybody can use milk as a food or medicine. In many\ninstances it causes biliousness, fermentation and constipation.\n\nIn cases where it is easily digested, a straight milk diet often\nproves very beneficial. As a rule, however, it is better to take\nfruits or vegetable salads with the milk.\n\nDirectly with milk may be taken any sweetish, alkaline fruits such\nas melons, sweet pears, etc., or the dried fruits, such as prunes,\ndates, figs, and raisins, also vegetable salads. With the latter, if\ntaken together with milk, little or no lemon juice should be used.\n\nAll acid and subacid fruits should be taken between the milk meals.\n\nA patient on a milk diet may take from one to five quarts of milk\ndaily, according to his capacity to digest it. This quantity may be\ndistributed over the day after the following plan:\n\nBreakfast: One to three pints of milk, sipped slowly with any of the\nsweetish, alkaline fruits mentioned above, or with vegetable salads\ncomposed of lettuce, celery, raw cabbage slaw, watercress, green\nonions, radishes, carrots, etc\n\n10:00 A.M.: Grapefruit, oranges, peaches, apples, apricots, berries,\ngrapes or other acid and subacid fruits.\n\nLuncheon: The same as breakfast.\n\n3:00 P.M. The same as 10 a.m.\n\nSupper: The same as breakfast. An orange or apple may be taken\nbefore retiring.\n\nWhen it is advisable to take a greater variety of food together with\nlarge quantities of milk, good whole grain bread and butter, cream,\nhoney, cooked vegetables, moderate amounts of potatoes and cereals\nmay be added to the dietary.\n\nButtermilk\n\nButtermilk is an excellent food for those with whom it agrees. In\nmany instances a straight buttermilk diet for a certain period will\nprove very beneficial. This is especially true in all forms of uric\nacid diseases.\n\nSour milk or clabber also has excellent medicinal qualities and may\nbe taken freely by those with whom it agrees.\n\nDrinks\n\nIt has been stated before that coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages\nshould be avoided.\n\nInstead of the customary coffee, tea or cocoa, delicious drinks,\nwhich are nutritious and at the same time nonstimulating, may be\nprepared from the different fruit and vegetable juices. They may be\nserved cold in hot weather and warm in winter. Recipes for fruit and\nvegetable drinks will be included in our new Vegetarian Cookbook,\nnow in preparation.\n\nIf more substantial drinks are desired, white of egg may be added or\nthe entire egg may be used in combination with prune juice, fig\njuice or any of the acid fruit juices. Other desirable and\nunobjectionable additions to beverages are flaked nuts or bananas\nmashed to a liquid.\n\nThe juice of a lemon or an orange, unsweetened, diluted with twice\nthe amount of water, taken upon rising, is one of the best means of\npurifying the blood and other fluids of the body and, incidentally,\nclearing the complexion. The water in which prunes or figs have been\ncooked should be taken freely to remedy constipation.\n\nAs a practical illustration, I shall describe briefly the daily\ndietary regimen as it is followed in our sanitarium work.\n\nBreakfast consists of juicy fruits, raw, baked or stewed, a cereal\n(whole wheat steamed, cracked wheat, shredded wheat, corn flakes,\noat meal, etc.), and our health bread with butter, cottage cheese or\nhoney. Nuts of various kinds, as well as figs, dates, or raisins,\nare always on the table. To those of our patients who desire a\ndrink, we serve milk, buttermilk or cereal coffee.\n\nTwice a week we serve eggs, preferably raw, soft boiled or poached.\n\nLuncheon is served at noontime and is composed altogether of acid\nand subacid fruits, vegetable salads or both. We have found by\nexperience that, by having one meal consist entirely of fruits and\nvegetables, the medicinal properties of these foods have a chance to\nact on the system without interference by starchy and protein food\nelements.\n\nDinner is served to our patients between five and six. The items of\nthe daily menu comprise relishes, such as radishes, celery, olives,\nyoung onions, raw carrots, etc., soup, one or two cooked vegetables,\npotatoes, preferably boiled or baked in their skins, and a dessert\nconsisting of either a fruit combination or a pudding.\n\nWe serve soup three times a week only, because we believe that a\nlarge amount of fluid of any kind taken into the system at meal time\ndilutes and thereby weakens the digestive juices. For this reason it\nis well to masticate with the soup some bread or crackers or some\nvegetable relish.\n\nAs drinks we serve to those who desire it water, milk or buttermilk.\n\nPrunes or figs, stewed or raw, are served at every meal to those who\nrequire a specially laxative diet.\n\n\n\nChapter XXVI\n\n\nAcid Diseases\n\n\nThe origin, progressive development and cure of acid diseases are\nvery much the same whether they manifest as rheumatism,\narteriosclerosis, stones (calculi), gravel, diabetes, Bright's\ndisease, affections of the heart or apoplexy.\n\nThe human body is made up of acid and alkaline constituents. In\norder to have normal conditions and functions of tissues and organs,\nboth must be present in the right proportions. If either the acid or\nthe alkaline elements are present in excessive or insufficient\nquanitities, abnormal conditions and functions, that is, disease\nwill be the result.\n\nAll acids, with the exception of carbonic acid, exert a tensing\ninfluence upon the tissues of the body, while alkalies have a\nrelaxing effect. The normal functions of the body depend upon the\nequilibrium between these opposing forces.\n\nAcidity and alkalinity undoubtedly play an important part in the\ngeneration of electricity and magnetism in the human organism. Every\nelectric cell and battery contains acid and alkaline elements; and\nthe human body is a dynamo made up of innumerable minute electric\ncells and batteries in the forms of living, protoplasmic cells and\norgans.\n\nIt has been claimed that what we call vital force is electricity and\nmagnetism, and that these forces are manufactured in the human body.\nThis, however, is but a partial statement of the truth. It is true\nthat vital force manifests in the body as electricity and magnetism,\nbut life or vital force itself is not generated in the system.\n\nLife is a primary force; it is the source of all activity animating\nthe universe. From this primary force other, secondary forces are\nderived, such as electricity, magnetism, mind force, nerve and\nmuscle force, etc.\n\nThese secondary, derived forces cannot be changed back into vital\nforce in the human organism. Nothing can give life but LIFE itself.\n\nWhen the physical body is dead, as we call it, the life which left\nit is active in the spiritual body. It is independent of the\nphysical organism just as electricity is independent of the\nincandescent bulb in which it manifests as light.\n\nAfter this digression we shall return to our study of the cause and\ndevelopment of acid diseases. Nearly every disease originating in\nthe human body is due to or accompanied by the excessive formation\nof different kinds of acids in the system, the most important of\nwhich are uric, carbonic, sulphuric, phosphoric and oxalic acids.\nThese, together with xanthines, poisonous alkaloids and ptomaines,\nare formed during the processes of protein and starch digestion and\nin the breaking down and decay of cells and tissues.\n\nOf these different waste products, uric acid causes probably the\nmost trouble in the organism. The majority of diseases arising\nwithin the human body are due to its erratic behavior. Together with\noxalic acid, it is responsible for arteriosclerosis, arthritic\nrheumatism and the formation of calculi.\n\nDr. Haig of London has done excellent work in the investigation of\nuric-acid poisoning, but he becomes one-sided when he makes uric\nacid the scapegoat for all disease conditions originating in the\norganism. In his philosophy of disease he fails to take into\nconsideration the effects of other acids and systemic poisons. For\ninstance, he does not mention the fact that carbonic acid is\nproduced in the system somewhat similarly to the formation of coal\ngas in the furnace; and that its accumulation prevents the entrance\nof oxygen into the cells and tissues, thus causing asphyxiation or\noxygen starvation, which manifests in the symptoms of anemia and\ntuberculosis.\n\nNeither does Dr. Haig explain the effects of other destructive\nby-products formed during the digestion of starches and proteins.\nSulphurous acid and sulphuric acid (vitriol), as well as phosphorus\nand phosphoric acids actually burn up the tissues of the body. They\ndestroy the cellulose membranes which form the protecting skins or\nenvelopes of the cells, dissolve the protoplasm and allow the latter\nto escape into the circulation. This accounts for the symptoms of\nBright's disease, the presence of albumen (cell protoplasm) in blood\nand urine, the clogging of the circulation, the consequent\nstagnation and the accumulation of blood serum (dropsy) and the\nfinal breaking down of the tissues (necrosis) resulting in open\nsores and ulcers.\n\nExcess of phosphorus and the acids derived from it overstimulates\nthe brain and the nervous system, causing nervousness, irritability,\nhysteria and the different forms of mania.\n\nAn example of this is the distemper of a horse when given too much\noats and not enough grass or hay. The excess of phosphorus and\nphosphoric acids formed from the protein materials of the grain, if\nnot neutralized by the alkaline minerals contained in grasses, hay\nor straw, will overstimulate and irritate the nervous system of the\nanimal and cause it to become nervous, irritable and vicious. These\nsymptoms disappear when the rations of oats are decreased and when\nmore fresh grass or hay is fed in place of the grain.\n\nSimilar effects to those produced upon the horse by an excess of\ngrains are caused in the human organism, especially in the sensitive\nnervous system of the child, by a surplus of protein foods, of meat,\neggs, grains and pulses.\n\nStill, when patients suffering from overstimulation of the brain and\nnervous system consult their doctor, his advice in almost every\ninstance is: \"Your nerves are weak and overwrought. You need plenty\nof good, nourishing food (broths, meat and eggs), and 'a good\ntonic.'\"\n\nThe remedies prescribed by the doctor are the very things which\ncaused the trouble in the first place.\n\nAs stated before, uric acid is undoubtedly one of the most common\ncauses of disease and therefore deserves especial attention. Through\nthe study of its peculiar behavior under different circumstances and\ninfluences, the cause, nature and development of all acid diseases\nwill become clearer.\n\nLike urea, uric acid is one of the end products of protein\ndigestion. It is formed in much smaller quantities than urea, in\nproportion of about one to fifty, but the latter is more easily\neliminated from the system through kidneys and skin.\n\nThe principal ingredient in the formation of uric acid is nitrogen,\none of the six elements which enter into all proteid or albuminous\nfood materials, also called nitrogenous foods. Uric acid, as one of\nthe by-products of digestion, is therefore always present in the\nblood and, in moderate quantities, serves useful purposes in the\neconomy of the human and animal organism like the other waste\nmaterials. It becomes a source of irritation and cause of disease\nonly when it is present in the circulation or in the tissues in\nexcessive amounts.\n\nHow Uric Acid Is Precipitated\n\nThe alkaline blood takes up the uric acid, dissolves it and holds it\nin solution in the circulation until it is carried to the organs of\ndepuration and eliminated in perspiration and urine. If, however,\nthrough the excessive use of nitrogenous foods or defective\nelimination, the amount of uric acid in the system is increased\nbeyond a certain limit, the blood loses its power to dissolve it and\nit forms a sticky, glue-like, colloid substance, which occludes or\nblocks up the minute blood vessels (capillaries), so that the blood\ncannot pass readily from the arterial system into the venous\ncirculation.\n\nThis interference with the free passing of the blood is greater in\nproportion to the distance from the heart, because the farther from\nthe heart, the less the force behind the circulation. Therefore we\nfind that slowing up of the blood currents, whether due to uric acid\nocclusion or any other cause, is more pronounced in the surface of\nthe body and in the extremities than in the interior parts and\norgans.\n\nThis occlusion of the surface circulation can be easily observed and\neven measured by a simple test. Press the tip of the forefinger of\none hand on the back of the other. A white spot will be formed where\nthe blood has receded from the surface on account of the pressure.\nNow observe how quickly or how slowly the blood returns into this\nwhite patch.\n\nDr. Haig says that, if the reflux of the blood take place within two\nor three seconds, the circulation is normal and not obstructed by\nuric acid. If, however, the blood does not return for four or more\nseconds, it is a sign that the capillary circulation is obstructed\nby colloid uric acid occlusion.\n\nIn this connection I would call attention to the fact that the\naccumulation of carbonic acid in the cells and tissues, and the\nresulting oxygen starvation, may produce similar interference with\nthe circulation and result in the same symptoms, including the slow\nreflux of blood after pressure, as those which Dr. Haig ascribes to\nthe action of uric acid only.\n\nWhen this obstruction of the circulation by uric or carbonic acid\nprevails throughout the body, the blood pressure is too high in the\narterial blood vessels and in the interior organs, such as heart,\nlungs, brain, etc., and too low in the surface, the extremities and\nin the venous circulation. The return flow of the blood to the heart\nthrough the veins is sluggish and stagnant because the force from\nbehind, that is, the arterial blood pressure, is obstructed by the\nuric acid which clogs the minute capillaries that form the\nconnection between the arterial and the venous systems.\n\nBecause of this interference with the normal circulation and\ndistribution of the blood, uric acid produces many annoying and\ndeleterious effects. It irritates the nerves, the mucous membranes\nand other tissues of the body, thus causing headaches, rheumatic\npains in joints and muscles, congestion of blood in the head,\nflushes, dizziness, depression, fainting and even epilepsy.\n\nOther results of uric acid irritation are: inflammatory and\ncatarrhal conditions of the bronchi, lungs, stomach, intestines,\ngenitourinary organs; rapid pulse; palpitation of the heart; angina\npectoris; etc.\n\nThese colloid substances occlude the minute excretory ducts in\nliver, spleen, kidneys and other organs, interfering with their\nnormal functions and causing the retention of morbid matter in the\nsystem.\n\nAll these troublesome and destructive effects of uric acid poisoning\nmay be greatly augmented by excessive accumulation of sulphuric,\nphosphoric and other acids, and by the formation of ptomaines and\npoisonous alkaloids during the metabolism of proteid substances.\n\nThe entire group of symptoms caused by the excess of uric acid in\nthe system and the resulting occlusion of the capillary blood\nvessels by colloid substances is called ~collemia~ [a glutinous or\nviscid condition of the blood].\n\nIf in such a condition as collemia the amount of uric acid in the\ncirculation is still farther increased by the taking of uric\nacid-producing food and drink and the saturation point of the blood\nis reached, that is, if the blood becomes overcharged with the acid,\na curious phenomenon may be observed: the collaemic symptoms\nsuddenly disappear as if by magic, giving way to a feeling of\nphysical and mental buoyancy and strength.\n\nThis wonderful change has been wrought because the blood has lost\nits capacity for dissolving uric acid and holding it in solution and\nthe acid has been precipitated, thrown out of the circulation and\ndeposited in the tissues of the body.\n\nAfter a period of rest, that is, when no uric acid-or\nxanthine-producing foods have been taken for some time, say,\novernight, the blood regains its alkalinity and its capacity for\ndissolving and carrying uric acid and begins to reabsorb it from the\ntissues. As a consequence, the blood becomes again saturated with\nuric acid and the collaemic symptoms reappear.\n\nThis explains why the hilariousness and exaltation of spirits at the\nbanquet is followed by \"Katzenjammer\" [hangover] in the morning. It\nalso explains why many people do not feel fit for their day's work\nunless they take a stimulant of some kind on arising. Their blood is\ncontinually filled with uric acid to the point of saturation and the\nextra amount contained in the coffee or alcohol repeats the process\nof uric-acid precipitation, the temporary stimulation and relief.\n\nEvery time this precipitation of uric acid from the circulation is\nrepeated, some of the morbid materials remain and accumulate in\ndifferent parts and organs. If these irritating substances become\nlodged in the joints and muscles, arthritic or muscular rheumatism\nis the result. If acids, xanthines and oxalates of lime form earthy\ndeposits along the walls of arteries and veins, these vessels harden\nand become inelastic, and their diameter is diminished. This\nobstructs the free circulation of the blood and causes malnutrition\nof the brain and other vital organs. Furthermore, the blood vessels\nbecome brittle and break easily and there is danger of hemorrhages.\n\nThis explains the origin and development of arteriosclerosis\n(hardening of the arteries) and apoplexy.\n\nApoplexy may also be caused by other acids and drug poisons which\nsoften, corrode and destroy the walls of the blood vessels in the\nbrain.\n\nIn individuals of different constitutions, accumulations of uric\nacid, xanthines, oxalates of calcium and various other earthy\nsubstances form stones, gravel or sandy deposits in the kidneys, the\ngall bladder and in other parts and organs.\n\nThe diseases caused by permanent deposits of uric acid in the\ntissues are called arthritic diseases, because the accumulations\nfrequently occur in the joints.\n\nThus we distinguish two distinct stages of uric acid diseases: the\ncollaemic stage, marked by an excess of uric acid in the circulation\nand resulting in occlusion of the capillary blood vessels, and the\narthritic stage, marked by permanent deposits of uric acid and other\nearthy substances in the tissues of the body.\n\nDuring the prevalence of the collaemic symptoms, that is, when the\ncirculation is saturated with uric acid, the urine is also highly\nacid. When precipitation of the acid materials from the blood into\nthe tissues has taken place, the amount of acid in the urine\ndecreases materially.\n\nI have repeatedly stated that xanthines have the same effect upon\nthe system as uric acid. Caffeine and theobromine, the narcotic\nprinciples of coffee and tea, are xanthines; and so is the nicotine\ncontained in tobacco. Peas, beans, lentils, mushrooms and peanuts,\nbesides being very rich in uric acid-producing proteins, carry also\nlarge percentages of xanthines, which are chemically almost\nidentical with uric acid and have a similar effect upon the organism\nand its functions.\n\nFrom what has been said, it becomes clear why the meat-eater craves\nalcohol and xanthines. When by the taking of flesh foods the blood\nhas become saturated with uric acid and the annoying symptoms of\ncollaemia make their appearance in the forms of lassitude, headache\nand nervous depression, then alcohol and the xanthines contained in\ncoffee, tea and tobacco will cause the precipitation of the acids\nfrom the circulation into the tissues of the body, and thus\ntemporarily relieve the collaemic symptoms and create a feeling of\nwell-being and stimulation.\n\nGradually, however, the blood regains its alkalinity and its\nacid-dissolving power and enough of the acid deposits are reabsorbed\nby the circulation to cause a return of the symptoms of collaemia.\nThen arises a craving for more alcohol, coffee, tea, nicotine or\nxanthine-producing foods in order to again obtain temporary relief\nand stimulation, and so on, ad infinitum.\n\nThe person addicted to the use of stimulants is never himself. His\nmental, moral and emotional equilibrium is always unbalanced. His\nbrain is muddled with poisons and he lacks the self-control, the\nclear vision and steady hand necessary for the achievement of\nsuccess in any line of endeavor.\n\nWe can now understand why one stimulant craves another, why it is\nalmost impossible to give up one stimulant without giving up all\nothers as well.\n\nFrom the foregoing it will have become clear that the stimulating\neffect of alcohol and of many so-called tonics depends upon their\npower to clear the circulation temporarily of uric and other acids.\nThose who have read this chapter carefully, will know why this\neffect is deceptive and temporary and why it is followed by a return\nof the collaemic symptoms in aggravated form, and how these are\ngradually changed into chronic arthritic uric acid diseases.\n\nIn order to give a better idea of the various phases of uric acid\npoisoning, I have used the following illustration in some of my\nlectures:\n\nA man may carry a burden of fifty pounds on his shoulders without\ndifficulty or serious discomfort. Let this correspond to the normal\nsolving-power and carrying-capacity of the blood for uric acid.\nSuppose you add gradually to the burden on the man's back until its\nweight has reached one-hundred and fifty pounds. He may still be\nable to carry the burden, but as the weight increases he will begin\nto show signs of distress. This increase of weight and the attendant\ndiscomfort correspond to the increase of uric acid in the blood and\nthe accompanying symptoms of collaemia.\n\nIf you increase the burden on the man's shoulders still further,\nbeyond his individual carrying-capacity, a point will be reached\nwhen he can no longer support its weight and will throw it off\nentirely. This climax corresponds to the saturation point of the\nblood, when the limit of its acid-carrying capacity is exceeded and\nits acid contents are precipitated into the tissues.\n\nThe Treatment of Acid Diseases\n\nThe treatment of acid diseases is the same as of all other diseases\nthat are due to the violation of Nature's laws: purification of\nblood and tissues from within and building up of the vital fluids\n(blood and lymph) on a natural basis through normal habits of\neating, dressing, bathing, breathing, working, resting and thinking\nas outlined in other parts of this volume.\n\nIn severe cases which have reached the chronic stage, the treatment\nmust be supplemented by the more aggressive methods of strict diet,\nhydrotherapy, curative gymnastics, massage, manipulation and\nhomeopathic medication.\n\n\n\nChapter XXVII\n\n\nFasting\n\n\nNext in importance to building up the blood on a natural basis is\nthe elimination of waste, morbid matter and poisons from the system.\nThis depends to a large extent upon the right (natural) diet; but it\nmust be promoted by the different methods of eliminative treatment:\nfasting, hydrotherapy, massage, physical exercise, air-and sunbaths\nand, in the way of medicinal treatment, by homeopathic, herb and\nvitochemical remedies.\n\nForemost among the methods of purification stands fasting, which of\nlate years has become quite popular and is regarded by many people\nas a panacea for all human ailments. However, it is a two-edged\nsword. According to circumstances, it may do a great deal of good or\na great deal of harm.\n\nKuhne, the German pioneer of Nature Cure, claimed that \"disease is a\nunit,\" that it consists in the accumulation of waste and morbid\nmatter in the system. Since his time, many \"naturists\" claim that\nfasting offers the best and quickest means for eliminating systemic\npoisons and other encumbrances.\n\nTo \"fast it out\" seems simple and plausible, but it does not always\nprove to be successful in practice. Fasting enthusiasts forget that\nthe elimination of waste and morbid matter from the system is more\nof a chemical than a mechanical process. They also overlook the fact\nthat in many cases lowered vitality and weakened powers of\nresistance precede and make possible the accumulation of morbid\nmatter in the organism.\n\nIf the encumbrances consist merely of superfluous flesh and fat or\nof accumulated waste materials, fasting may be sufficient to break\nup the accumulations and to eliminate the impurities that are\nclogging blood and tissues.\n\nIf, however, the disease has its origin in other than mechanical\ncauses, or if it is due to a weakened, negative constitution and\nlowered powers of resistance, fasting may aggravate the abnormal\nconditions instead of improving them.\n\nWe hear frequently of long fasts, extending over days and weeks,\nundertaken recklessly without the prescription and guidance of a\ncompetent medical adviser, without proper preparation of the system\nand the right subsequent treatment. Many a good constitution has\nthus been permanently injured and wrecked.\n\nWhen Fasting Is Indicated\n\nPersons of sanguine, vital temperament, with the animal qualities\nstrongly developed, enslaved by bad habits and evil passions, will\nbe greatly benefited by occasional short fasts. In such cases, the\nexperience affords a fine drill in self-discipline, strengthening of\nself-control and conquest of the lower appetites.\n\nVigorous, fleshy people, positive physically and mentally,\nespecially those who do not take sufficient physical exercise,\nshould take frequent fasts of one, two, or three days' duration for\nthe reduction of superfluous flesh and fat and for the elimination\nof systemic waste and other morbid materials. Such people should\nnever eat more than two meals a day, and many get along best on one\nmeal.\n\nHowever, different temperaments and constitutions require different\ntreatment and management. People of a nervous, emotional\ntemperament, especially those who are below normal in weight and\nphysically and mentally negative, may be seriously and permanently\ninjured by fasting. They should never fast except in acute diseases\nand during eliminative healing crises, when Nature calls for the\nfast as a means of cure.\n\nPeople of this type are usually thin, with weak and flabby muscles.\nTheir vital activities are at a low ebb and their magnetic envelopes\n(aura) are wasted and attenuated like their physical bodies. The red\naura, which is created by the action of the purely animal functions\nand forces, is more or less deficient or entirely lacking. Such\npeople have the tendency to become abnormally sensitive to\nconditions in the magnetic field (the astral plane).\n\nNext to the hypnotic or mediumistic process, there is nothing that\ninduces abnormal psychism so quickly as fasting. During a prolonged\nfast, the purely animal functions of digestion, assimilation and\nelimination are almost completely at a standstill. This depression\nof the physical functions arouses and increases the psychic\nfunctions and may produce intense emotionalism and abnormal activity\nof the senses of the spiritual-material body, the individual thus\nbecoming abnormally clairvoyant, clairaudient and otherwise\nsensitive to conditions on the spiritual planes of life.\n\nThis explains the spiritual exaltation and the visions of heavenly\nscenes and beings or the fights with demons which are frequently,\nindeed uniformly, reported by hermits, ascetics, saints, yogi,\nfakirs and dervishes.\n\nFasting facilitates hypnotic control of the sensitive by positive\nintelligences either on the physical or on the spiritual plane of\nbeing. In the one case we speak of hypnotism, in the other of\nmediumship, obsession or possession. These conditions are usually\ndiagnosed by the regular practitioner as nervousness, nervous\nprostration, hysteria, paranoia, delusional insanity, double\npersonality, mania, etc.\n\nThe destructive effects of fasting are intensified by solitude,\ngrief, worry, introspection, religious exaltation or any other form\nof depressive or destructive mental and emotional activity.\n\nSpirit controls often force their subjects to abstain from food,\nthus rendering them still more negative and submissive. Psychic\npatients, when controlled or obsessed, will frequently not eat\nunless they are forced or fed like an infant. When asked why they do\nnot want to eat, these patients reply: \"I mustn't. They will not let\nme.\" When we say: \"Who?\" the answer is: \"These people. Don't you see\nthem?\" pointing to a void, and becoming impatient when told that no\none is there. The regular school says delusion; we call it abnormal\nclairvoyance.\n\nIn other instances the control tells the subject that his food and\ndrink are poisoned or unclean. To the obsessed victim these\nsuggestions are absolute reality.\n\nTo place persons of the negative, sensitive type on prolonged fasts\nand thus to expose them to the dangers just described is little\nshort of criminal. Such patients need an abundance of the most\npositive animal and vegetable foods in order to build up and\nstrengthen their physical bodies and their magnetic envelopes, which\nform the dividing and protecting wall between the terrestrial plane\nand the magnetic field.\n\nA negative vegetarian diet, consisting principally of fruits, nuts,\ncereal and pulses, but deficient in animal foods (the dairy\nproducts, eggs, honey) and in the vegetables growing in or near the\nground may result in conditions similar to those which accompany\nprolonged fasting.\n\nAnimal foods are elaborated under the influence of a higher\nlife-element* than that controlling the vegetable kingdom, and foods\nderived from the animal kingdom are necessary to develop and\nstimulate the positive qualities in man.\n\n*This subject will be treated more fully in another volume of this\nseries entitled \"Natural Dietitics.\"\n\nIn the case of the psychic, who is already deficient in the physical\n(animal) and overdeveloped in the spiritual qualities, it is\nespecially necessary, in order to restore and maintain the lost\nequilibrium, to build up in him the animal qualities.\n\nHow to Take an Occasional Therapeutic Fast\n\nBefore, during and after a therapeutic fast, everything must be done\nto keep elimination active, in order to prevent the reabsorption of\nthe toxins that are being stirred up and liberated.\n\nFasting involves rapid breaking down of the tissues. This creates\ngreat quantities of worn-out cell materials and other morbid\nsubstances. Unless these poison-producing accumulations are promptly\neliminated, they will be reabsorbed into the system and cause\nautointoxication.\n\nTo prevent this, bowels, kidneys and skin must be kept in active\ncondition. The diet, for several days before and after the fast,\nshould consist largely of uncooked fruits and vegetables and the\ndifferent methods of natural stimulative treatment to assure proper\nbowel action should be systematically applied.\n\nDuring a fast, every bit of vitality must be economized; therefore\nthe passive treatments are to be preferred to active exercise,\nalthough a certain amount of exercise (especially walking) daily in\nthe open air accompanied by deep breathing should not be neglected.\n\nWhile fasting, intestinal evacuation usually ceases, especially\nwhere there is a natural tendency to sluggishness of the bowels.\nInjections [salt and baking soda enemas are best] are therefore in\norder and during prolonged fasts may be taken every few days.\n\nBy prolonged fasts we understand fasts that last from one to four\nweeks, short fasts being those of one, two or three days' duration.\n\nModerate drinking is beneficial during a fast as well as at other\ntimes; but excessive consumption of water, the so-called flushing of\nthe system, is very injurious. Under ordinary conditions from five\nto eight glasses of water a day are probably sufficient; the\nquantity consumed must be regulated by the desire of the patient.\n\nThose who are fasting should mix their drinking water with the juice\nof acid fruits, preferably lemon, orange or grapefruit. These juices\nact as eliminators and are fine natural antiseptics.\n\nNever use distilled water, whether during a fast or at any other\ntime. Deprived of its own mineral constituents, distilled water\nleeches the mineral elements and organic salts out of the tissues of\nthe body and thereby intensifies dysemic [blood deterioration]\nconditions.\n\nWhile fasting, the right mental attitude is all-important. Unless\nyou can do it with perfect equanimity, without fear or misgiving, do\nnot fast at all. Destructive mental conditions may more than offset\nthe beneficial effects of the fast.\n\nTo recapitulate: Never undertake a prolonged fast unless you have\nbeen properly prepared by natural diet and treatment, and never\nwithout the guidance of a competent Nature Cure doctor.\n\nFasting in Chronic Diseases\n\nAt all times some of our patients can be found fasting; but they do\nnot begin until the right physiological and psychological moment has\narrived, until the fast is indicated. When the organism, or rather\nthe individual cell, is ready to begin the work of elimination, then\nassimilation should cease for the time being, because it interferes\nwith the excretory processes going on in the system.\n\nTo fast before the system is ready for it, means mineral salts\nstarvation and defective elimination.\n\nGiven a vigorous, positive constitution, encumbered with too much\nflesh and with a tendency to chronic constipation, rheumatism, gout,\napoplexy and other diseases due to food poisoning, a fast may be\nindicated from the beginning. But it is different with persons of\nthe weak, negative type.\n\nOrdinarily, the organism resembles a huge sponge, which absorbs the\nelements of nutrition from the digestive tract. During a fast the\nprocess is reversed, the sponge is being squeezed and gives off the\nimpurities contained in it.\n\nHowever, this is a purely mechanical process and deals only with the\nmechanical aspect of disease: with the presence of waste matter in\nthe system. It does not take into consideration the chemical aspect\nof disease. We have learned that most of the morbid matter in the\nsystem has its origin in the acid waste products of starchy and\nprotein digestion.\n\nIn rheumatism and gout, the colloid (glue-like) and earthy deposits\ncollect in the joints and muscular tissues; in arteriosclerosis, in\nthe arteries and veins; in paralysis, epilepsy and kindred diseases,\nin brain and nerve tissues.\n\nThe accumulation of these waste products is due, in turn, to a\ndeficiency in the system of the alkaline, acid-binding and\nacid-eliminating mineral elements. In point of fact, almost every\nform of disease is characterized by a lack of these organic mineral\nsalts in blood and tissues.\n\nStones, gravel (calculi), etc., grow in acid blood only, and must be\ndissolved and eliminated by rendering the blood alkaline. This is\naccomplished by the absorption of the alkaline salts, contained most\nabundantly in the juicy fruits, the leafy and juicy vegetables, the\nhulls of cereals and in milk.\n\nHow, then, are these all-important solvents and eliminators to be\nsupplied to the organism by total abstinence from food?\n\nProlonged fasting undoubtedly lowers the patient's vitality and\npowers of resistance. But natural elimination of waste products and\nsystemic poisons (healing crises) depends upon increased vitality\nand activity of the organism and the individual cells that compose\nit.\n\nFor these reasons we find, in most cases, that proper adjustment of\nthe diet, both as to quality and quantity, together with the\ndifferent forms of natural corrective and stimulative treatment,\nmust precede the fasting.\n\nThe great majority of chronic patients have become chronics because\ntheir skin, kidneys, intestines and other organs of elimination are\nin a sluggish, atrophied condition. As a result, their system is\noverloaded with morbid matter.\n\nMoreover, during the fast the system has to live on its own tissues,\nwhich are being broken down rapidly. This results in the production\nand liberation of additional large quantities of morbid matter and\npoisons, which must be eliminated promptly to prevent their\nreabsorption.\n\nHowever, the atrophic condition of the organs of elimination makes\nthis impossible and there are not enough alkaline mineral elements\nto neutralize the destructive acids. Therefore the impurities remain\nand accumulate in the system and may cause serious aggravations and\ncomplications.\n\nIs it not wiser first of all to build up the blood on a normal basis\nby natural diet and to put the organs of elimination in good working\norder by the natural methods of treatment before fasting is\nenforced? This is, indeed, the only rational procedure and will\nalways be followed by the best possible results.\n\nWhen, under the influence of a rational diet, the blood has regained\nits normal composition, when mechanical obstructions to the free\nflow of blood and nerve currents have been removed by manipulative\ntreatment, when skin, kidneys, bowels, nerves and nerve centers, in\nfact, every cell in the body has been stimulated into vigorous\nactivity by the various methods of natural treatment, then the cells\nthemselves begin to eliminate their morbid encumbrances. The waste\nmaterials are carried in the blood stream to the organs of\nelimination and incite them to acute reactions or healing crises in\nthe form of diarrheas, catarrhal discharges, fevers, inflammations,\nskin eruptions, boils, abscesses, etc.\n\nNow the sponge is being squeezed and cleansed of its impurities in a\nnatural manner. The mucous membranes of stomach and bowels are\ncalled upon to assist in the work of housecleaning; hence the coated\ntongue, lack of appetite, digestive disturbances, nausea,\nbiliousness, sour stomach, fermentation, flatulence and occasionally\nvomiting and purging.\n\nThese digestive disturbances are always accompanied by mental\ndepression, the blues, homesickness, irritability, fear,\nhopelessness, etc.\n\nWith the advent of these cleansing and healing crises the\nphysiological and psychological moment for fasting has arrived. All\nthe processes of assimilation are at a standstill. The entire\norganism is eliminating.\n\nWe have learned that these healing crises usually arrive during the\nsixth week of natural treatment.\n\nTo take food now would mean to force assimilation and thereby to\nstop elimination and perchance to interfere with or to check a\nbeneficial healing crisis.\n\nTherefore we regard it as absolutely essential to stop eating as\nsoon as any form of acute elimination makes its appearance and we do\nnot give any food except acid fruit juices diluted with water until\nall signs of acute eliminative activity have subsided, whether this\nrequire a few days or a few weeks or a few months.\n\nSome time ago I treated a severe case of typhoid malaria. No food,\nexcept water mixed with a little orange or lemon juice, passed the\nlips of the patient for eight weeks. When all disease symptoms had\ndisappeared, we allowed a few days for the rebuilding of the\nintestinal mucous membranes. Thereafter food was administered with\nthe usual precautions. The patient gained rapidly and within six\nweeks weighed more than before the fever. During the entire period I\nsaw the patient only twice, the simple directions being carried out\nfaithfully by his relatives.\n\n\n\nChapter XXVIII\n\n\nHydrotherapy Treatment of Chronic Disease\n\n\nWhile in our treatment of acute diseases we use wet packs and cold\nablutions to promote the radiation of heat and thereby to reduce the\nfever temperature, our aim in the treatment of chronic diseases is\nto arouse the system to acute eliminative effort. In other words,\nwhile in acute disease our hydropathic treatment is sedative, in\nchronic diseases it is stimulative.\n\nThe Good Effects of Cold-Water Applications\n\n(1) Stimulation of the Circulation. As before stated, cold water\napplied to the surface of the body arouses and stimulates the\ncirculation all over the system. Blood counts before and after a\ncold-water application show a very marked increase in the number of\nred and white blood corpuscles. This does not mean that the cold\nwater has in a moment created new blood cells, but it means that the\nblood has been stirred up and sent hurrying through the system, that\nthe lazy blood cells which were lying inactively in the sluggish and\nstagnant blood stream and in the clogged and obstructed tissues are\naroused to increased activity.\n\nUndoubtedly, the invigorating and stimulating influence of cold\nsprays, ablutions, sitz baths, barefoot walking in the dewy grass or\non wet stones and all other cold-water applications depends largely\nupon their electromagnetic effects upon the system. This has been\nexplained in Chapter Ten, \"Natural Treatment of Acute Diseases.\"\n\n(2) Elimination of Impurities. As the cold water drives the blood\nwith increased force through the system, it flushes the capillaries\nin the tissues and cleanses them from the accumulations of morbid\nmatter and poisons which are one of the primary causes of acute and\nchronic diseases.\n\nAs the blood rushes back to the surface it suffuses the skin, opens\nand relaxes the pores and the minute blood vessels or capillaries\nand thus unloads its impurities through the skin.\n\nWhy We Favor Cold Water\n\nIn the treatment of chronic diseases some advocates of natural\nmethods of healing still favor warm or hot applications in the form\nof hot-water baths, different kinds of steam or sweat baths,\nelectric light baths, hot compresses, fomentations, etc.\n\nHowever, the great majority of Nature Cure practitioners in Germany\nhave abandoned hot applications of any kind almost entirely because\nof their weakening and enervating aftereffects and because in many\ninstances they have not only failed to produce the expected results,\nbut aggravated the disease conditions.\n\nWe can explain the different effects of hot and cold water as well\nas of all other therapeutic agents upon the system by the Law of\nAction and Reaction. Applied to physics, this law reads: \"Action and\nreaction are equal but opposite.\" I have adapted the Law of Action\nand Reaction to therapeutics in a somewhat circumscribed way as\nfollows: \"Every therapeutic agent affecting the human organism has a\nprimary, temporary, and a secondary, permanent effect. The\nsecondary, lasting effect is contrary to the primary, transient\neffect.\"\n\nThe first, temporary effect of warmth above the body temperature,\nwhether it be applied in the form of hot air or water, steam or\nlight, is to draw the blood into the surface. Immediately after such\nan application the skin will be red and hot.\n\nThe secondary and lasting effect, however (in accordance with the\nLaw of Action and Reaction), is that the blood recedes into the\ninterior of the body and leaves the skin in a bloodless and\nenervated condition subject to chills and predisposed to \"catching\ncold.\"\n\nOn the other hand, the first, transient effect of cold-water\napplications upon the body as a whole or any particular part is to\nchill the surface and send the blood scurrying inward, leaving the\nskin in a chilled, bloodless condition. This lack of blood and\nsensation of cold are at once telegraphed over the afferent nerves\nto headquarters in the brain, and from there the command goes forth\nto the nerve centers regulating the circulation: \"Send blood into\nthe surface!\"\n\nAs a result, the circulation is stirred up and accelerated\nthroughout the system and the blood rushes with force into the\ndepleted skin, flushing the surface of the body with warm, red blood\nand restoring to it the rosy color of health. This is the secondary\neffect. In other words, the well-applied cold-water treatment is\nfollowed by a good reaction and this is accompanied by many\npermanent beneficial results.\n\nThe drawing and eliminating primary effect of hot applications, of\nsweat baths, etc., is at best only temporary, lasting only a few\nminutes and is always followed by a weakening reaction, while the\ndrawing and eliminating action of the cold-water applications, being\nthe secondary, lasting effect, exerts an enduring, invigorating and\ntonic influence upon the skin which enables it to throw off morbid\nmatter not merely for ten or fifteen minutes, as in the sweat bath\nunder the infiuence of excessive heat, but continually, by day and\nnight.\n\nThe Danger of Prolonged or\n\nExcessively Cold Applications\n\nAs we have pointed out in the chapter dealing with water treatment\nin acute diseases, only water at ordinary temperature, as it comes\nfrom well or faucet, should be used in hydropathic applications. It\nis positively dangerous to apply ice bags to an inflamed organ or to\nuse icy water for packs and ablutions in febrile conditions.\n\nLikewise, ice or icy water should not be used in the hydropathic\ntreatment of chronic diseases. Excessive cold is as suppressive in\nits effects upon the organism as are poisonous antiseptics or\nantifever medicines.\n\nThe baths, sprays, douches, etc., should not be kept up too long.\nThe duration of the cold-water applications must be regulated by the\nindividual conditions of the patient and by his powers of reaction;\nbut it should be borne in mind that it is the short, quick\napplication that produces the stimulating, electromagnetic effects\nupon the system.\n\nIn the following pages are described some of the baths and other\ncold-water applications that are especially adapted to the treatment\nof chronic diseases.\n\nHow to Keep the Feet Warm\n\nThe proverb says: \"Keep the head cool and the feet warm.\" This is\ngood advice, but most people attempt to follow it by \"doctoring\"\ntheir cold feet with hot-water bottles, warming pans, hot bricks or\nirons, etc. These are excellent means of making the feet still\ncolder, because \"heat makes cold and cold makes heat.\"\n\nIn accordance with the Law of Action and Reaction, hot applications\ndrive the blood away from the feet, while cold applications draw the\nblood to the feet. Therefore, if your feet are cold and bloodless\n(which means that the blood is congested in other parts of the\nbody), walk barefoot in the dewy grass, in a cool brook, on wet\nstone pavements or on the snow.\n\nInstead of putting a hot-water bottle to the feet of a bedridden\ninvalid, bathe his feet with cold water, adding a little salt for\nits electric effect, then rub and knead (massage), and finish with a\nmagnetic treatment by holding his feet between your hands and\nwilling the blood to flow into them. This will have a lasting good\neffect not only upon the feet, but upon the entire organism.\n\nThe following cold-water applications are very effective for curing\nchronic cold feet:\n\n(1) Foot Bath\n\nStand in cold water reaching up to the ankle for one minute only.\nDry the feet with a coarse towel and rub them vigorously with the\nhands, or walk about briskly for a few minutes. Repeat if necessary.\n\n(2) Leg Bath\n\n(a) Stand in water up to the calves, then proceed as above.\n\n(b) Stand in water up to the knees, then rub vigorously or walk as\ndirected.\n\n(3) Barefoot Walking\n\nWalk barefoot in wet grass or on wet stone pavements several times a\nday, from ten to twenty minutes at a time, or less in case of\nweakness. The early morning dew upon the grass is especially\nbeneficial; later in the day wet the grass or pavement with a hose.\n\nAfter barefoot walking, dry and rub the feet thoroughly and take a\nshort, brisk walk in shoes and stockings.\n\n(4) Indoor Water-Treading\n\nStand in a bathtub or large foottub containing about two inches of\ncold water, step and splash vigorously for several minutes, then dry\nand rub the feet and increase the circulation by walking around the\nroom a few times.\n\n(5) Foot Spray\n\nTurn the full force of water from a hydrant or hose first on one\nfoot, then on the other. Let the stream play alternately on the\nupper part of the feet and on the soles. The coldness and force of\nthe water will draw the blood to the feet.\n\nThese applications are excellent as a means of stimulating and\nequalizing the circulation and a sure cure for cold and clammy feet,\nas well as for sweaty feet.\n\nIn this connection, we warn our readers most strongly against the\nuse of drying powders or antiseptic washes to suppress foot-sweat.\nEpilepsy and other serious nervous disorders have been traced to\nthis practice.\n\n(6) Partial Ablutions\n\nPartial ablutions with cold water are very useful in many instances,\nespecially in local inflammation or where local congestion is to be\nrelieved. The \"Kalte Guss\" [cold water splashing] forms an important\nfeature of the Kneipp system of water cure.\n\nSprays or showers may be administered to the head, arms, chest,\nback, thighs, knees or wherever indicated, with a dipper, a\nsprinkler or a hose attached to the faucet or hydrant. The water\nshould be of natural temperature and the \"guss\" of short duration.\n\n(7) Limb Bath\n\nTake up cold water in the hollow of the hands from a running faucet\nor a bucket filled with water, rub arms and legs briskly for a few\nminutes.\n\n(8) Upper Body Bath\n\nStand in an empty tub, take water in the hollow of the hands from a\nrunning faucet or a bucket filled with cold water and rub briskly\nthe upper half of the body from neck to hips, for two or three\nminutes. Use a towel or brush for those parts of the body that you\ncannot reach with the hands.\n\n(9) Lower Body Bath\n\nProceed as in (8), rubbing the lower part of the body from the waist\ndownward.\n\n(10) Hip Bath\n\nSit in a large basin or in the bathtub in enough water to cover the\nhips completely, the legs resting on the door or against the sides\nof the tub. While taking the hip bath, knead and rub the abdomen.\n\nDry with a coarse towel, then rub and pat the skin with the hands\nfor a few minutes.\n\nThe duration of the hip bath and the temperature of the water must\nbe adapted to individual conditions. Until you are accustomed to\ncold water, use water as cool as can be borne without discomfort.\n\n(11) The Morning Cold Rub\n\nThe essentials for a cold rub, and in fact for every cold-water\ntreatment, are warmth of the body before the application, coolness\nof the water (natural temperature), rapidity of action and friction\nor exercise to stimulate the circulation. No cold-water treatment\nshould be taken when the body is in a chilled condition.\n\nDirectly from the warmth of the bed, or after sunbath and exercise\nhave produced a pleasant glow, go to the bathroom, sit in the empty\ntub with the stopper in place, turn on the cold water, and as it\nflows into the tub, catch it in the hollow of the hands and wash\nfirst the limbs, then the abdomen, then chest and back. Throw the\nwater all over the body and rub the skin with the hands like you\nwash your face.\n\nDo this quickly but thoroughly. The entire procedure need not take\nup more than a few minutes. By the time the bath is finished, there\nmay be from two to four inches of water in the tub. Use a towel or\nbrush for the back if you cannot reach it otherwise.\n\nAs long as there is a good reaction, the \"cold rub\" may be taken in\nan unheated bathroom even in cold weather.\n\nAfter the bath, dry the body quickly with a coarse towel and finish\nby rubbing with the hands until the skin is dry and smooth and you\nare aglow with the exercise, or expose the wet body to the fresh air\nbefore an open window and rub with the hands until dry and warm.\n\nA bath taken in this manner combines the beneficial effects of cold\nwater, air, exercise and the magnetic friction of the hands on the\nbody (life on life). No lifeless instrument or mechanical appliance\ncan equal the dexterity, warmth and magnetism of the human hand.\n\nThe bath must be so conducted that it is followed by a feeling of\nwarmth and comfort. Some persons will be benefited by additional\nexercise or, better still, a brisk walk in the open air, while\nothers will get better results by returning to the warmth of the\nbed.\n\nThere is no better means for stimulating the general circulation and\nfor increasing the eliminative activities of the system than this\ncold morning rub at the beginning of the day after the night's rest.\nIf kept up regularly, its good effects will soon become apparent.\n\nThis method of taking a morning bath is to be preferred to the\nplunge into a tub filled with cold water. While persons with very\nstrong constitutions may experience no ill effects, to those who are\nweak and do not react readily, the cold plunge might prove a severe\nshock and strain upon the system.\n\nWhen a bathtub is not available, take the morning cold rub in the\nfollowing manner:\n\nStand in an empty washtub. In front of you, in the tub, place a\nbasin or bucket filled with cold water. Wet the hands or a towel and\nwash the body, part by part, from the feet upward, then dry and rub\nwith the hands as directed.\n\n(12) The Evening Sitz Bath\n\nThe morning cold rub is stimulating in its effects, the evening sitz\nbath is quieting and relaxing. The latter is therefore especially\nbeneficial if taken just before going to bed.\n\nThe cold water draws the blood from brain and spinal cord and\nthereby insures better rest and sleep. It cools and relaxes the\nabdominal organs, sphincters, and orifices, stimulates gently and\nnaturally the action of the bowels and of the urinary tract, and is\nequally effective in chronic constipation and in affections of the\nkidneys or bladder.\n\nThe sitz bath is best taken in the regular sitz bathtub made for the\npurpose, but an ordinary bathtub or a washtub or pan may be used\nwith equally good effect.\n\nPour into the vessel a few inches of water at natural temperature,\nas it comes from the faucet, and sit in the water until a good\nreaction takes place--that is, until the first sensation of cold is\nfollowed by a feeling of warmth. This may take from a few seconds to\na few minutes, according to the temperature of the water and the\nindividual powers of reaction.\n\nDry with a coarse towel, rub and pat the skin with the hands, then,\nin order to establish good reaction, practice deep breathing for a\nfew minutes, alternating with the internal massage described in a\nlater chapter.\n\n(13) The Head Bath\n\nLoss or discoloration of the hair is generally due to the lack of\nhair-building elements in the blood or to sluggish circulation in\nthe scalp and a diseased condition of the hair follicles. Nothing\nmore effectually stimulates the flow of blood to brain and scalp or\npromotes the elimination of waste matter and poisons from these\nparts than the head bath together with scalp massage.\n\nUnder no circumstances use hair tonics, dandruff or eczema cures, or\nhair dyes. All such preparations contain poisons or at any rate\nstrong antiseptics and germcides. Dandruff is a form of elimination\nand should not be suppressed. When the scalp is in good condition,\nit will disappear of its own accord.\n\nThe Diagnosis from the Eye reveals the fact that glycerine, quinine,\nresorcin and other poisonous antiseptics and stimulants absorbed\nfrom scalp cures and hair tonics and deposited in the brain are in\nmany cases the real cause of chronic headaches, neuralgia,\ndizziness, roaring in the ears, loss of hearing and sight, mental\ndepression, irritability and even insanity.\n\nCold water is an absolutely safe and at the same time a most\neffective means to promote the growth of hair, as many of our\npatients can testify.\n\nWhenever you have occasion to wash the face, wash also the head\nthoroughly with cold water. While doing so, vigorously pinch, knead\nand massage the scalp with the finger tips. When feasible, turn the\nstream from a hydrant or a hose upon the head. This will add the\ngood effect of friction to the coldness of the water.\n\nHave your hair cut only during the third quarter of the moon. The\nladies may clip off the ends of their hair during that period.\nSkeptics may smile at this as another evidence of ignorance and\nsuperstition. However, \"fools deride,\" etc. The country people in\nmany parts of Europe, who are much closer and wiser observers of\nNature and her ways than the conceited wise men of the schools, do\ntheir sowing and reaping in accordance with the phases of the moon.\nIn order to insure vigorous growth, they sow and plant during the\ngrowing moon; but their cutting and reaping is done during the\nwaning moon.\n\n(14) The Eye Bath\n\nFor the eye bath the temperature of the water should be as cold as\nthe sensitive eyeball can stand, but not cold enough to cause\nserious discomfort. A few grains of salt may be added to make the\nwater slightly saline.\n\nSubmerge forehead and eyes in a basin of water, open and close the\nlids under water from six to eight times; repeat a few times. Bend\nover a basin filled with water and with the hands dash the water\ninto the open eyes. Fill a glass eye-cup (which can be bought in any\ndrug store or department store) with water, bend the head forward\nand press the cup securely against the eye; then bend backward and\nopen and shut the lid a number of times.\n\nMany ailments of the eyes, for instance, the much-dreaded cataract,\nare caused by defective circulation and the accumulation of\nimpurities and poisons in the system in general and in the mechanism\nof the eyes in particular. All such cases yield readily to our\ncombination of natural methods of treatment, such as water\napplications, massage and special exercises, combined with the\ngeneral Nature Cure regimen.\n\nIn a large number of cases treated in our sanitarium, patients who\nhad worn glasses for years were able to discard them. Weakened\neyesight and many serious so-called incurable affections of the eye,\nincluding cataract and glaucoma, have been permanently cured.\n\n\n\nChapter XXIX\n\n\nAir and Light Baths\n\n\nEven among the adherents of Nature Cure there are those who think\nthat air and light baths should be taken out of doors in warm\nweather only and in winter time only in well-heated rooms.\n\nThis is a mistake. The effect of the air bath upon the organism is\nsubject to the same Law of Action and Reaction which governs the\neffects of water applications.\n\nIf the temperature of air or water is the same or nearly the same as\nthat of the body, no reaction takes place, the conditions within the\nsystem remain the same. But if the temperature of air or water is\nconsiderably lower than the body temperature there will be a\nreaction.\n\nIn order to react against the chilling effect of cold air or water,\nthe nerve centers which control the circulation send the blood to\nthe surface in large quantities, flushing the skin with warm, red,\narterial blood. The flow of the blood stream is greatly accelerated,\nand the elimination of morbid matter on the surface of the body is\ncorrespondingly increased.\n\nWhat Is the Cause of Poor Skin Action?\n\nMan is naturally an air animal. He breathes with the pores of the\nskin as well as with the lungs. However, the custom of hiding the\nbody under dense, heavy clothing, thus excluding it from the\nlife-giving influence of air and light, together with the habit of\nwarm bathing, has weakened and enervated the skin of the average\nindividual until it has lost its tonicity and is no longer capable\nof fulfilling its natural functions.\n\nThe compact, almost airtight layers of underwear and outer clothing\nmade of cotton, wool, silk and leather prevent the ventilation of\nthe skin and the escape of the morbid excretions of the body. The\nskin is an organ of absorption as well as of excretion; consequently\nthe systemic poisons which are eliminated from the organism, if not\nremoved by proper ventilation and bathing, are reabsorbed into the\nsystem just like the poisonous exhalations from the lungs are\nreinhaled and reabsorbed by people congregating in closed rooms or\nsleeping in unventilated bedrooms.\n\nWho would think of keeping plants or animals continuously covered\nup, away from the air and light? We know they would wither and waste\naway, and die before long.\n\nNevertheless, civilized human beings have for ages hidden their\nbodies most carefully from sun and air, which are so necessary to\ntheir well-being. Is it any wonder that the human cuticle has become\nwithered, enervated and atrophied, that it has lost the power to\nperform freely and efficiently its functions of elimination and\nabsorption? Undoubtedly, this has much to do with the prevalence of\ndisease.\n\nIn the iris of the eye the atrophied condition of the skin is\nindicated by a heavy, dark rim, the so-called scurf rim. It\nsignifies that the skin has become anemic, the surface circulation\nsluggish and defective, and that the elimination of morbid matter\nand systemic poisons through the skin is handicapped and retarded.\nThis, in turn, causes autointoxication and favors the development of\nall kinds of acute and chronic diseases.\n\nThe Importance of the Skin as an Organ of Elimination\n\nOf late physiologists have claimed that the skin is not of great\nimportance as an organ of elimination. Common experience and the\nDiagnosis from the Eye teach us differently. The black rim seen more\nor less distinctly in the outer rim of the iris in the eyes of the\nmajority of people has been called the scurf rim, because it was\nfound that this dark rim appears in the iris after the suppression\nof scurfy and other forms of skin eruptions and after the external\nor internal use of lotions, ointments and medicines containing\nmercury, zinc, iodine, arsenic or other poisons which suppress or\ndestroy the life and activity of the skin.\n\nTherefore, when we see in the iris of a person a heavy scurf rim, we\ncan tell him at once: \"Your cuticle is in a sluggish, atrophied\ncondition, the surface circulation and elimination through the skin\nare not good and as a result of this there is a strong tendency to\nautointoxication, you take cold easily, and suffer from chronic\ncatarrhal conditions.\" Therefore, a heavy scurf rim frequently\nindicates what is ordinarily called \"a scrofulous condition.\"\n\nThis certainly shows the great importance of the skin as an organ of\nelimination and the necessity of keeping it in the best possible\ncondition. It explains why an atrophied skin has so much to do with\nthe causation of disease and why in the treatment of both acute and\nchronic ailments air and cold water produce such wonderful results.\n\nThe favorite method of diagnosis employed by Father Kneipp, the\ngreat water cure apostle, was to examine the skin of his patients.\nIf the \"jacket,\" as he called it, was in fairly good condition, he\npredicted a speedy recovery. If he found the \"jacket\" shriveled and\ndry, weakened and atrophied, he shook his head and informed the\npatient that it would take much time and patience to restore him to\nhealth. He, as well as other pioneers of the Nature Cure movement,\nrealized that elimination is the keynote in the treatment of acute\nand chronic diseases.\n\nWhen Air Baths Should Be Taken\n\nOn awakening in the morning and several times during the day, if\ncircumstances permit, expose your nude body to the invigorating\ninfluence of the open air and the sunlight.\n\nDuring the hot season of the year and in tropical countries the best\ntime for taking air and sun baths is the early morning and the late\nafternoon.\n\nPersons suffering from insomnia or nervousness in any form are in\nnearly every case greatly benefited by a short air bath taken just\nbefore retiring, either preceding or following the evening sitz\nbath, as may be most convenient.\n\nWhere Air Baths Should Be Taken\n\nIf at all possible, air baths should be taken out of doors. Every\nhouse should have facilities for air and sun baths, that is, an\nenclosure where the nude body can be exposed to the open air and the\nsunlight.\n\nIf the air bath out of doors is impracticable, it may be taken in\nfront of an open window. But indoor air, even in a well-ventilated\nroom, is more or less stagnant and vitiated, and at best only a poor\nsubstitute for the open air.\n\nIt is the breezy, moving outdoor air, permeated with sunlight and\nrich in oxygen and ozone, that generates the electric and magnetic\ncurrents which are so stimulating and vitalizing to everything that\ndraws the breath of life.\n\nThis is being realized more and more, and air-bath facilities will\nin the near future be considered as indispensable in the modern,\nup-to-date house as is now the bathroom.\n\nWe predict that before many years the roofs of apartment houses will\nbe utilized for this purpose and people will wonder how they ever\ngot along without the air bath.\n\nOur sanitarium has two large enclosures on its roof, open above and\nsurrounded on all sides by wooden lattice work, which allows the air\nto circulate freely, but excludes observation from neighboring roofs\nand windows and the streets below. One compartment is for men and\none for women, each provided with gymnastic apparatus and a separate\nspray room.\n\nHow Air Baths Should Be Taken\n\nAt first expose the nude body to cool air only for short periods at\na time, until the skin becomes inured to it.\n\nLikewise, unless you are well used to the sun, take air baths of\nshort duration, say from ten to twenty minutes, until your skin and\nyour nervous system have become accustomed to the influence of heat\nand strong light. Prolonged exposure to the glaring rays of the\nnoonday sun might produce severe burning of the skin, aside from a\npossible harmful effect upon the nervous system.\n\nThe novice should protect head and eyes against the fierce rays of\nsunlight. This is best accomplished by means of a wide-brimmed straw\nhat of light weight. In cases where dizziness results from the\neffect of the heat upon the brain, a wet cloth may be swathed around\nthe head or placed inside a straw hat.\n\nIt will be found very pleasurable and invigorating to take a cold\nshower or spray off and on during the sun bath and to allow the air\nto dry the body. This will also increase its electromagnetic effects\nupon the system.\n\nThe Friction Bath\n\nWhile taking the air bath, the skin may be rubbed or brushed with a\nrough towel or a flesh brush in order to remove the excretions and\nthe atrophied cuticle. The friction bath should always be followed\nby a spray or a cold-water rub.\n\nAt the time of the air bath, practice breathing exercises and the\ncurative gymnastics appropriate to your condition. (See Chapters\nTwenty-Eight and Thirty on \"Correct Breathing\" and \"Physical\nExercise.\")\n\nIf the air bath is taken at night, before retiring, the less active\nbreathing exercises, as numbers 1, 3, 7 and 13, may be taken with\ngood results, but all vigorous stimulating movements should be\navoided.\n\nAs the plant prospers under the life-giving influence of water and\nlight, so the cuticle of the human skin becomes alive and active\nunder the natural stimulation of water, air and sunlight. From the\nforegoing paragraphs it will be seen why the air and light baths are\nregarded among the most important natural methods of treatment in\nall the great Nature Cure sanitariums of Germany.\n\n\n\nChapter XXX\n\n\nCorrect Breathing\n\n\nThe lungs are to the body what the bellows are to the fires of the\nforge. The more regularly and vigorously the air is forced through\nthe bellows and through the lungs, the livelier burns the flame in\nthe smithy and the fires of life in the body.\n\nPractice deep, regular breathing systematically for one week, and\nyou will be surprised at the results. You will feel like a different\nperson, and your working capacity, both physically and mentally,\nwill be immensely increased.\n\nA plentiful supply of fresh air is more necessary than food and\ndrink. We can live without food for weeks, without water for days,\nbut without air only a few minutes.\n\nThe Process of Breathing\n\nWith every inhalation, air is sucked in through the windpipe or\ntrachea, which terminates in two tubes called bronchi, one leading\nto the right lung, one to the left. The air is then distributed over\nthe lungs through a network of minute tubes, to the air cells, which\nare separated by only a thin membrane from equally fine and minute\nblood vessels forming another network of tubes.\n\nThe oxygen contained in the inhaled air passes freely through these\nmembranes, is absorbed by the blood, carried to the heart and thence\nthrough the arteries and their branches to the different organs and\ntissues of the body, fanning the fires of life into brighter flame\nall along its course and burning up the waste products and poisons\nthat have accumulated during the vital processes of digestion,\nassimilation and elimination.\n\nAfter the blood has unloaded its supply of oxygen, it takes up the\ncarbonic acid gas which is produced during the oxidation and\ncombustion of waste matter and carries it to the lungs, where the\npoisonous gases are transferred to the air cells and expelled with\nthe exhaled breath. This return trip of the blood to the lungs is\nmade through another set of blood vessels, the veins, and the blood,\ndark with the sewage of the system, is now called venous blood.\n\nIn the lungs the venous blood discharges its freight of\nexcrementitious poisons and gases, and by coming in contact with\nfresh air and a new supply of oxygen, it is again transformed into\nbright, red arterial blood, pregnant with oxygen and ozone, the\nlife-sustaining elements of the atmosphere.\n\nThis explains why normal, deep, regular breathing is all-important\nto sustain life and as a means of cure. By proper breathing, which\nexercises and develops every part of the lungs, the capacity of the\nair cells is increased. This, as we have learned, means also an\nincreased supply of life-sustaining and health-promoting oxygen to\nthe tissues and organs of the body.\n\nBad Effects of Shallow Breathing\n\nVery few people breathe correctly. Some, especially women, with\ntight skirtbands and corsets pressing on their vital organs, use\nonly the upper part of their lungs. Others breathe only with the\nlower part and with the diaphragm, leaving the upper structures of\nthe lungs inactive and collapsed.\n\nIn those parts of the lungs that are not used, slimy secretions\naccumulate, irritating the air cells and other tissues, which become\ninflamed and begin to decay. Thus a luxuriant soil is prepared for\nthe tubercle bacillus, the pneumococcus and other disease-producing\nbacilli and germs.\n\nThis habit of shallow breathing, which does not allow the lungs to\nbe thoroughly permeated with fresh air, accounts in a measure for\nthe fact that one-third of all deaths result from diseases of the\nlungs. To one individual perishing from food starvation, thousands\nare dying from oxygen starvation.\n\nLung culture is more important than other branches of learning and\ntraining which require more time and a greater outlay of time, money\nand effort. In the Nature Cure regimen, breathing exercises play an\nimportant part.\n\nBreathing Exercises\n\nGeneral Directions\n\nThe effectiveness of breathing exercises and of all other kinds of\ncorrective movements depends upon the mental attitude during the\ntime of practice. Each motion should be accompanied by the conscious\neffort to make it produce a certain result. Much more can be\naccomplished with mental concentration, by keeping your mind on what\nyou are doing, than by performing the exercises in an aimless,\nindifferent way.\n\nKeep in the open air as much as possible and at all events sleep\nwith windows open.\n\nIf your occupation is sedentary, take all opportunities for walking\nout of doors that present themselves. While walking, breathe\nregularly and deeply, filling the lungs to their fullest capacity\nand also expelling as much air as possible at each exhalation. Undue\nstrain should, of course, be avoided. This applies to all breathing\nexercises.\n\nDo not breathe through the mouth. Nature intends that the outer air\nshall reach the lungs by way of the nose, whose membranes are lined\nwith fine hairs in order to sift the air and to prevent foreign\nparticles, dust and dirt, from irritating the mucous linings of the\nair tract and entering the delicate structures of the lungs. Also,\nthe air is warmed before it reaches the lungs by its passage through\nthe nose.\n\nLet the exhalations take about double the time of the inhalations.\nThis will be further explained in connection with rhythmical\nbreathing.\n\nDo not hold the breath between inhalations. Though frequently\nrecommended by teachers of certain methods of breath culture, this\npractice is more harmful than beneficial.\n\nThe Proper Standing Position\n\nOf great importance is the position assumed habitually by the body\nwhile standing and walking. Carelessness in this respect is not only\nunpleasant to the beholder, but its consequences are far-reaching in\ntheir effects upon health and the well-being of the organism.\n\nOn the other hand, a good carriage of the body aids in the\ndevelopment of muscles and tissues generally and in the proper\nfunctioning of cells and organs in particular. With the weight of\nthe body thrown upon the balls of the feet and the center of gravity\nwell focused, the abdominal organs will stay in place and there will\nbe no strain upon the ligaments that support them.\n\nIn assuming the proper standing position, stand with your back to\nthe wall, touching it with heels, buttocks, shoulders and head. Now\nbend the head backward and push the shoulders forward and away from\nthe wall, still touching the wall with buttocks and heels.\nStraighten the head, keeping the shoulders in the forward position.\nNow walk away from the wall and endeavor to maintain this position\nwhile taking the breathing exercises and practicing the various arm\nmovements.\n\nTake this position as often as possible during the day and try to\nmaintain it while you go about your different tasks that must be\nperformed while standing. Gradually this position will become second\nnature, and you will assume and maintain it without effort.\n\nWhen the body is in this position, the viscera are in their normal\nplace. This aids the digestion materially and benefits indirectly\nthe entire functional organism.\n\nPersistent practice of the above will correct protruding abdomen and\nother defects due to faulty position and carriage of the body.\n\nThe following breathing exercises are intended especially to develop\ngreater lung capacity and to assist in forming the habit of\nbreathing properly at all times. The different movements should be\nrepeated from three to six times, according to endurance and the\namount of time at disposal.\n\n(1) With hands at sides or on hips, inhale and exhale slowly and\ndeeply, bringing the entire respiratory apparatus into active play.\n\n(2) (To expand the chest and increase the air capacity of the\nlungs.)\n\nJerk the shoulder forward in several separate movements, inhaling\ndeeper at each forward jerk. Exhale slowly, bringing the shoulders\nback to the original position.\n\nReverse the exercise, jerking the shoulders backward in similar\nmanner while inhaling. Alternate the movements, forcing the\nshoulders first forward, then backward.\n\n(3) Stand erect, arms at sides. Inhale, raising the arms forward and\nupward until the palms touch above the head, at the same time\nraising on the toes as high as possible. Exhale, lowering the toes,\nbringing the hands downward in a wide circle until the palms touch\nthe thighs.\n\n(4) Stand erect, hands on hips. Inhale slowly and deeply, raising\nthe shoulders as high as possible, then, with a jerk, drop them as\nlow as possible, letting the breath escape slowly.\n\n(5) Stand erect, hands at shoulders. Inhale, raising elbows\nsideways; exhale, bringing elbows down so as to strike the sides\nvigorously.\n\n(6) Inhale deeply, then exhale slowly, at the same time clapping the\nchest with the palms of the hands, covering the entire surface.\n\n(These six exercises are essential and sufficient. The following\nfour may be practiced by those who are able to perform them and who\nhave time and inclination to do so.)\n\n(7) Stand erect, hands at sides. Inhale slowly and deeply, at the\nsame time bringing the hands, palms up, in front of the body to the\nheight of the shoulders. Exhale, at the same time turning the palms\ndownward and bringing the hands down in an outward circle.\n\n(8) Stand erect, the right arm raised upward, the left crossed\nbehind the back. Lean far back, then bend forward and touch the\nfloor with the right hand, without bending the knees, as far in\nfront of the body as possible. Raise the body to original posture,\nreverse position of arms, and repeat the exercise. Inhale while\nleaning backward and changing position of arms, exhale while bending\nforward.\n\n(9) Position erect, feet well apart, both arms raised. Lean back,\ninhaling, then bend forward, exhaling, touching the floor with both\nhands between the legs as far back as possible.\n\n(10) Horizontal position, supporting the body on palms and toes.\nSwing the right hand upward and backward, flinging the body to the\nleft side, resting on the left hand and the left foot. Return to\noriginal position, repeat the exercise, flinging the body to the\nright side. Inhale while swinging backward, exhale while returning\nto position.\n\nDiaphragmatic Breathing\n\nThe diaphragm is a large, flat muscle, resembling a saucer, which\nforms the division between the chest cavity and the abdominal\ncavity. By downward expansion it causes the lungs to expand likewise\nand to suck in the air. The pressure of air being greater on the\noutside of the body than within, it rushes in and fills the vacuum\ncreated by the descending diaphragm. As the diaphragm relaxes and\nbecomes contracted to its original size and position, the air is\nexpelled from the body.\n\n(11) (To stimulate the action of the diaphragm)\n\nLie flat on floor or mattress, the head unsupported. Relax the\nmuscles all over the body, then inhale deeply with the diaphragm\nonly, raising the wall of the abdomen just below the ribs without\nelevating either the chest or the lower abdomen. Take about four\nseconds to inhale, then exhale in twice that length of time,\ncontracting the abdomen below the ribs.\n\n(12) (Internal massage)\n\nLie on your back on a bed or couch, knees raised. Relax thoroughly,\nexhale and hold the breath after exhalation. While doing so, push\nthe abdomen out and draw it in as far as possible each way. Repeat\nthese movements as long as you can hold the breath without\nstraining, then breathe deeply and regularly for several minutes,\nthen repeat the massage movements.\n\nNext to deep breathing, I consider this practice of greater value\nthan any other physical exercise. It imparts to the intestines an\nother abdominal organs a \"washboard\" motion which acts as a powerful\nstimulant to all the organs in the abdominal cavity. Internal\nmassage is especially beneficial in chronic constipation. This\nexercise may be performed also while standing or walking. It should\nbe practiced two or three times daily.\n\nBreathing Exercises to Be Taken in Bed\n\n(13) With hands at side, inhale slowly and deeply, as directed in\nExercise Number (1), filling and emptying the lungs as much as\npossible, but without straining. Practice first lying on the back,\nthen on each side.\n\n(14) Using one-or two-pound dumbbells, position recumbent on back,\narms extended sideways, dumbbells in hands. Raise the arms with\nelbows rigid, cross arms over the chest as far as possible, at the\nsame time expelling the air from the lungs. Extend the arms to the\nsides, inhaling deeply and raising the chest.\n\n(15) Lie flat on the back, arms at sides. Grasping the dumbbells,\nextend the arms backward over the head, inhaling. Leave them in this\nposition for a few seconds, then raise them straight above the\nchest, and lower them slowly to the original position. Exhale during\nthe second half of this exercise.\n\nAs a variation, cross the arms in front of the body instead of\nbringing to sides.\n\nRhythmical Breathing\n\nIt is a fact not generally known to us western people (our attention\nhad to be called to it by the \"Wise Men of the East\"), that in\nnormal, rhythmical breathing exhalation and inhalation take place\nthrough one nostril at a time: for about one hour through the right\nnostril and then for a like period through the left nostril.\n\nThe breath entering through the right nostril creates positive\nelectro-magnetic currents, which pass down the right side of the\nspine, while the breath entering through the left nostril sends\nnegative electro-magnetic currents down the left side of the spine.\nThese currents are transmitted by way of the nerve centers or\nganglia of the sympathetic nervous system, which is situated\nalongside the spinal column, to all parts of the body.\n\nIn the normal, rhythmical breath exhalation takes about twice the\ntime of inhalation. For instance, if inhalation require four\nseconds, exhalation, including a slight natural pause before the new\ninhalation, requires eight seconds.\n\nThe balancing of the electro-magnetic energies in the system depends\nto a large extent upon this rhythmical breathing, hence the\nimportance of deep, unobstructed, rhythmic exhalation and\ninhalation.\n\nIn order to establish the natural rhythm of the breath when it has\nbeen impaired through catarrhal affections, wrong habits of\nbreathing, or other causes, the following exercise, practiced not\nless than three times a day (preferably in the morning upon arising,\nat noon, and at night), will prove very beneficial in promoting\nnormal breathing and creating the right balance between the positive\nand the negative electro-magnetic energies in the organism.\n\nThe Alternate Breath\n\nExhale thoroughly, then close the right nostril and inhale through\nthe left. After a slight pause change the position of the fingers\nand expel the breath slowly through the right nostril. Now inhale\nthrough the right nostril and, reversing the pressure upon the\nnostrils, exhale through the left.\n\nRepeat this exercise from five to ten times, always allowing twice\nas much time for exhalation as for inhalation. That is, count three,\nor four, or six for inhalation and six, eight, or twelve,\nrespectively, for exhalation, according to your lung capacity. Let\nyour breaths be as deep and long as possible, but avoid all strain.\n\nThis exercise should always be performed before an open window or,\nbetter yet, in the open air, and the body should not be constricted\nand hampered by tight or heavy clothing.\n\nAlternate breathing may be practiced standing, sitting, or in the\nrecumbent position. The spine should at all times be held straight\nand free, so that the flow of the electro-magnetic currents be not\nobstructed. If taken at night before going to sleep, the effect of\nthis exercise will be to induce calm, restful sleep.\n\nWhile practicing the \"alternate breath,\" fix your attention and\nconcentrate your power of will upon what you axe trying to\naccomplish. As you inhale through the right nostril, will the\nmagnetic currents to flow along the right side of the spine, and as\nyou inhale through the left nostril, consciously direct the currents\nto the left side.\n\nThere is more virtue in this exercise than one would expect,\nconsidering its simplicity. It has been in practice among the Yogi\nof India since time immemorial.\n\nThe wise men of India knew that with the breath they absorbed not\nonly the physical elements of the air, but life itself. They taught\nthat this primary force of all forces, from which all energy is\nderived, ebbs and flows in rhythmical breath through the created\nuniverse. Every living thing is alive by virtue of and by partaking\nof this cosmic breath.\n\nThe more positive the demand, the greater the supply. Therefore,\nwhile breathing deeply and rhythmically in harmony with the\nuniversal breath, will to open yourself more fully to the inflow of\nthe life force from the source of all life in the innermost parts of\nyour being.\n\nThis intimate connection of the individual soul with the great\nreservoir of life must exist. Without it life would be an\nimpossibility.\n\nWarning\n\nWhile the alternate breathing exercises are very valuable for\novercoming obstructions in the air passages, for establishing the\nhabit of rhythmic breathing and for refining and accelerating the\nvibratory activities on the physical and spiritual planes of being,\nthey must be practiced with great caution. These, and other \"Yogi\"\nbreathing exercises, are powerful means for developing abnormal\npsychical conditions. They are therefore especially dangerous to\nthose who are already inclined to be physically and mentally\nnegative and sensitive. Such persons must avoid all practices which\ntend to refine excessively the physical body and to develop\nprematurely and abnormally the sensory organs of the spiritual body.\nThe most dangerous of these methods are long extended fasting, raw\nfood diet, that, is, a diet consisting of fruits, nuts, oils and raw\nvegetables and excluding the dalry products, \"Yogi\" breathing, and\n\"sitting in the silence.\" That is, sitting in darkness, in seclusion\nor in company with others, while keeping the mind in a passive,\nreceptive condition for extraneous impressions. These practices tend\nto develop very dangerous phases of abnormal and subjective\npsychism, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, mediumship and\nobsession.\n\n\n\nChapter XXXI\n\n\nPhysical Exercise\n\n\nAside from breathing, gymnastics in general--or in the case of\nillness or deformity, special corrective and curative\nexercises--should be taken every day.\n\nPhysical exercise has similar effects upon the system as\nhydrotherapy, massage and manipulative treatment. It stirs up the\nmorbid accumulations in the tissues, stimulates the arterial and\nvenous circulation, expands the lungs to their fullest capacity,\nthereby increasing the intake of oxygen, and most effectively\npromotes the elimination of waste and morbid materials through skin,\nkidneys, bowels and the respiratory tract.\n\nFurthermore, well-adapted, systematic physical exercises tend to\ncorrect dislocations of spinal vertebrae and other bony structures.\nThey relax and soften contracted and hardened muscles and ligaments\nand tone up those tissues which are weakened and abnormally relaxed.\nRegular physical exercise means increased blood supply, improved\nnutrition and better drainage for all the vital organs of the body.\n\nBy means of systematic exercise, combined with deep breathing, the\nliberation and distribution of electromagnetic energies in the\nsystem are also greatly promoted.\n\nMost persons who have to work hard physically are under the\nimpression that they need not take special exercises. This, however,\nis a mistake. In nearly all kinds of physical labor only certain\nparts of the body are called into action and only certain sets of\nmuscles exercised, while others remain inactive. This favors unequal\ndevelopment, which is injurious to the organism as a whole. It is\nmost necessary that the ill effects of such one-sided activity be\ncounteracted by exercises and movements that bring into active play\nall the different parts of the body, especially those that are\nneglected during the hours of work.\n\nSystematic physical exercise is an absolute necessity for brain\nworkers and those following sedentary occupations. They not only\nneed breathing gymnastics and corrective movements mornings and\nevenings, but should take regular daily walks, no matter what the\ncondition of the weather. Unless they do this faithfully, their\ncirculation will become sluggish and their organs of elimination\ninactive. The cells and tissues of their bodies will gradually\nbecome clogged with morbid encumbrances, and this will inevitably\nlead to physical and mental deterioration.\n\nGeneral Rules\n\nWeak persons and those suffering from malignant diseases, such as\ncancer, tuberculosis, heart trouble, asthma, or from displacements\nand ruptures, or who are liable to apoplectic seizures, etc., should\nnot take these or any other vigorous exercises except under the\nsupervision of a competent physician. At least twice a day all parts\nof the respiratory apparatus should be thoroughly exercised (see\nChapter Twenty-Eight on Breathing Exercises). Deep breathing should\naccompany every corrective movement, whether it be a special\nbreathing exercise or not. Begin your exercises each day with light\nmovements and change gradually to more vigorous ones, then reverse\nthe process, ending with light, relaxing movements. When beginning\nto take systematic exercise, do not make the separate movements too\nvigorous or continue them too long. If any of them cause pain or\nconsiderable strain, omit them until the body becomes stronger and\nmore flexible. The muscular soreness often resulting from exercise\nat the beginning is, as a rule, of little consequence and disappears\nbefore long. The different movements should be practiced in spite of\nit, because that is the only way to relieve and overcome this\ncondition. Stop when you begin to feel tired. Never overdo; you\nshould feel refreshed and relaxed after exercising, not tired and\nshaky. Do not take vigorous exercise of any kind within an hour and\na half after eating, nor immediately before meals. It is a good plan\nto rest and relax thoroughly for about fifteen minutes before\nsitting down to the table. Whenever practicable, exercise out of\ndoors. If indoors, perform the movements near an open window or\nwhere there is a current of fresh air. Exercise undressed, if\npossible, or in a regular gymnasium suit that gives free play to all\nthe muscles. If dressed, loosen all tight clothing.~ ~Ladies should\nwear their garments suspended from the shoulders by means of\nshoulder braces, or so-called reform waists, the skirts being\nfastened to these. Always relax physically and mentally before\ntaking exercise. Apparatus is not necessary to produce results.\nHowever, dumbbells, wands or Indian clubs may be used, but they\nshould not be too heavy. One-pound dumbbells are sufficiently heavy\nin most cases. The exercises described here are intended for\nmuscular control, flexibility, improvement of the circulation and\nincreased activity of the vital functions rather than for mere\nanimal strength.\n\nIn the following paragraphs we offer a selection of corrective\nmovements, graduated from the more simple to those requiring\nconsiderable agility and effort.\n\nIn practicing these exercises, it is best to alternate them, that\nis, to select, say, six or seven movements, suited to individual\nconditions with a view to secure all-around general development and\nspecial practice for those parts and organs of the body that need\nextra attention. The time at your disposal will also have to be\nconsidered.\n\nPractice these exercises daily for a week. For the following week\nselect six different exercises, then six more for the third week,\nand so on, supplementing the list here given as may be required by\nyour particular needs. Then start over again in a similar manner.\n\nThis is better than doing the same stunts every day. It promotes\nall-around development of the body and keeps the interest from\nflagging.\n\nCorrective Gymnastics\n\n(1) Raise the arms forward (at the same time beginning to inhale),\nupward above the head, and backward as far as possible, bending back\nthe head and inhaling deeply. Now exhale slowly, at the same time\nlowering arms and head and bending the body downward until the\nfingers touch the toes. Keep the knees straight. Inhale again,\nraising arms upward and backward as before. Repeat from six to ten\ntimes.\n\nFor exercising the muscles between the ribs and the abdominal\nmuscles in the back:\n\n(2) Inhale slowly and deeply, with arms at side. Now exhale, and at\nthe same time bend to the left as far as possible, raising the right\narm straight above the head and keeping the left arm close to the\nside of the body. Assume the original position with a quick\nmovement, at the same time inhaling. Exhale as before, bending to\nthe right and raising the left arm. Repeat a number of times.\n\nFor making the chest flexible. Also excellent for the digestive\norgans:\n\n(3) Chest Stretcher: This exercise must be performed vigorously, the\nmovements following one another in rapid succession:\n\nStand erect. Throw the arms backward so that the palms touch\n(striving to bring them higher with each repetition), at the same\ntime rising on the toes and inhaling. Without pausing, throw the\narms forward and across the chest, the right arm uppermost, striking\nthe back with both hands on opposite sides, at the same time\nexhaling and lowering the toes. Throw the arms back immediately,\ntouching palms, rising on toes and inhaling as before, then bring\nthem forward and across the chest again, left arm upper most. Repeat\nfrom ten to twenty times.\n\nAn excellent massage and vibratory movement for the lungs.\n\n(4) Exercises for filling out scrawny necks and hollow chests:\n\nStand erect. Without raising or lowering the chin and without\nbending the neck, push the head forward as far as possible, then\nrelax. Repeat a number of times. Push the head straight back in\nsimilar manner, making an effort to push it farther back each time.\nDo not bend the neck. Repeat. Stand erect. Bend the head toward the\nright shoulder as far as possible, then relax. Do not rotate the\nhead. Repeat.\n\nBend the head to the left shoulder in a similar manner, then\nalternate the two movements. Stand erect. Bend the head forward as\nfar as possible, making an effort to bring it down farther each\ntime. Relax.\n\nBend the head backward as far as possible.\n\nBend the head first forward, then backward. Repeat.\n\n(5) For exercising the muscles of the chest and the upper arm.\n\nStand erect, elbows to sides, hands closed on chest, thumbs inward.\nThrust out the arms vigorously and quickly, first straight ahead,\nthen to the sides, then straight up, then straight downward, then\nbackward. Repeat each movement a number of times, then alternate\nthem, each time bringing arms back and hands to the original\nposition quickly and forcefully.\n\nAs a variation, raise the elbows sideways to shoulder height with\nfists on shoulders, then strike vigorously as before, opening the\npalms and stretching the fingers with each thrust. Repeat from ten\nto twenty times or until tired.\n\n(6) Stand erect, hands on hips. Keeping the legs straight, rotate\nthe trunk upon the hips, bending first forward, then to the right,\nthen backward, then to the left. Repeat a number of times, then\nrotate in the opposite direction.\n\nEspecially valuable to stir up a sluggish liver:\n\n(7) Lie flat on your back on a bed or, better still, a mat on the\nfloor, hands under head. Without bending knees, raise the right leg\nas high as possible and lower it slowly. Repeat a number of times,\nthen raise the other leg, then alternate. As the abdomen becomes\nstronger, raise both legs at once, keeping knees straight. It is\nimportant that the legs be lowered slowly.\n\nFor exercising the abdominal muscles and strengthening the pelvic\norgans. This and the following exercise are especially valuable for\nremedying female troubles:\n\n(8) Lie flat on back, arms folded on chest. Place the feet under a\nchair or bed to keep them in position. Raise the body to a sitting\nposture, keeping knees, back and neck straight. Lower the body\nslowly to its original position. Repeat from five to ten times,\naccording to strength.\n\nSupplementary Exercises\n\n(9) Stride-stand position (feet about one-half yard apart). Raise\nthe arms sideways until even with the shoulders, then, without\nbending the back, rotate the trunk upon the hips, first to the\nright, then to the left.\n\nAs a variation of this exercise, rotate from the waist only, keeping\nthe hips motionless.\n\nAn excellent massage for the internal organs:\n\n(10) See-saw motion:\n\nStride-stand position, arms raised sideways. Bend to the right until\nthe hand touches the floor, left arm raised high. Resume original\nposition. Repeat several times, then bend to the left side, then\nalternate.\n\n(11) Chopping exercise:\n\nStride-stand position. Clasp the hands above the left shoulder.\nSwing the arms downward and between the legs, bending well forward.\nReturn to position and repeat a number of times, then repeat with\nhands on right shoulder, then alternate.\n\n(12) Cradle rock:\n\nClasp hands over head, elbows straight. Bend the trunk to the right\nand left side alternately and without pausing a number of times.\n\n(13) Stand erect, feet together. Jump to the stride-stand position,\nat the same time raising arms sideways to shoulders, jump back to\noriginal position and lower arms. Repeat from ten to twenty times.\n\n(14) Lie flat on back, arms at side, legs straight. Raise both legs\ntill they are at right angles with body. From this position sway\nlegs to the right and left side alternately.\n\n(15) Lie flat on back, arms extended over head. Swing arms and legs\nupward simultaneously, touching the toes with the hands in midair,\nbalancing the body on the hip bones and lower part of spine. Return\nto original position and repeat.\n\nThis is a difficult and strenuous exercise, and should not be\nattempted at first:\n\n(16) Lie flat on stomach, hands under shoulders, palms down-ward,\nfingers turned inward, about six inches apart. This will give free\nplay to the muscles of the chest. Raise the upper half of the body\non the hands and arms as high as possible, keeping the body\nstraight. Return to position and repeat until slightly fatigued.\n\n(17) Same position as before. Raise the entire body on hands and\ntoes, keeping arms and legs straight. Return to relaxed position and\nrepeat the exercise.\n\nAs a variation, sway forward and backward while in the raised\nposition.\n\n(18) Lie flat on stomach, arms extended in front. Fling the arms\nupward and raise the upper part of the body as high as possible,\nkeeping the legs straight. Return to position and repeat, but avoid\nexcessive strain.\n\n(19) Same position as before, but hands on hips or clasped in back.\nRaise upper part of body without assistance from hands or arms.\n\n(20) Rocking chair motion:\n\nSit on a mat or bed, legs straight, arms at side. Recline so that\nthe upper part of the body almost touches the mat, at the same time\nswinging the legs upward. Return to original position and repeat\nwithout any pause between the movements, rocking back and forth\nuntil slightly tired.\n\nAs you get stronger, clasp the hands behind the head. As a\nvariation, rock with the knees bent, hands clasped below them.\n\nSpecial Exercises for Reducing Flesh and\n\nStrengthening the Abdominal Organs\n\n(21) Lie flat on stomach, heels and toes together, hands stretched\nout in front. Fling head and arms upward, at the same time raising\nthe legs, knees straight. Avoid straining.\n\n(22) Same position, hands clasped on back, feet together. Roll from\nside to side.\n\n(23) Lie flat on back, seize a bar (bed rail or rung of chair) just\nbehind the head. Keeping the feet close together, raise the legs as\nhigh as possible, then swing them from side to side. As a variation,\nswing legs in a circle without flexing the knees.\n\n(24) Same position. Raise and lower the legs up and down without\nletting them touch the floor, keeping the knees straight.\n\n(25) Lie flat on the back, fold the hands loosely across the\nstomach. Raise and lower the upper body without quite touching the\nfloor.\n\n(26) Stand erect, heels together, arms raised above the head. Bend\nforward and downward, endeavoring to place the palms of the hands on\nthe floor in front of the body without flexing the knees. Return\nslowly to original position and repeat.\n\n(27) Stand erect, hands on hips. Keeping the body motionless from\nthe hips downward, sway the upper part of the body from side to side\nand forward and backward, and in a circle to right and left.\n\n(28) Stand erect, raise the arms above the head. Rotate the trunk\nupon the hips with extended arms, bending as far as possible in each\ndirection, but avoiding undue strain. These are strenuous movements\nand should not be carried to excess or performed very long at a\ntime.\n\nPhysical Exercises for Invalids\n\nPersons who are very weak and unable to be on their feet for any\nlength of time need not, for this reason, forego the benefits to be\nderived from systematic physical exercise.\n\nA low chair, with straight or very lightly curved back and no arms,\nor a rocking chair of similar construction with a wedge placed under\nthe rockers in such a manner as to keep the chair steady at a\nsuitable angle, is well adapted to the practice of a number of\ncorrective movements, such as rotating of hips and waist, forward\nand sideward bending of the trunk, the various arm and neck\nexercises, bending and twisting of feet and toes, the internal\nmassage (Exercise Number 12) and \"Breathing Exercises to be Taken in\nBed,\" in previous Chapter.\n\n\n\nChapter XXXII\n\n\nManipulative Treatment Massage\n\n\nMassage has very much the same effects upon the system as the\ncold-water treatment. It accelerates the circulation, draws the\nblood into the surface, relaxes and opens the pores of the skin,\npromotes the elimination of morbid matter and increases and\nstimulates the electromagnetic energies in the body.\n\nWe have learned that one of the primary causes of chronic disease is\nthe accumulation of waste matter and systemic poisons in the tissues\nof the body. These morbid encumbrances clog the capillaries, thus\nobstructing the circulation and interfering with or preventing the\nnormal activity of the organs of elimination, especially the skin.\n\nThe deep-going massage, the squeezing, kneading, rolling and\nstroking, actually squeezes the stagnant blood and the morbid\naccumulations out of the tissues into the venous circulation, speeds\nthe venous blood, charged with waste products and poisons, on its\nway to the lungs and enables the arterial blood with its freight of\noxygen and nourishing elements to flow more freely into the\nless-obstructed tissues and organs.\n\nThrough manipulation of the fleshy tissues, the blood is drawn to\nthe surface of the body and in that way the elimination of morbid\nmatter through the relaxed and opened pores of the skin is greatly\nfacilitated.\n\nVery important are the electromagnetic effects of good massage upon\nthe system. The positive magnetism of the operator will stir up and\nintensify the latent electromagnetic energies in the body of the\npatient, very much like a piece of iron or steel is magnetized by\nrubbing it with a horseshoe magnet. The more normal and positive,\nmorally and mentally as well as physically, the operator, the more\nmarked will be the good effects of the treatment upon the weak and\nnegative patient.\n\nMagnetic Treatment\n\nThe beneficial effect of magnetic treatment is not so much due to\nthe actual transmission of vital force from operator to patient as\nto the arousing and stimulating of the latent, inactive\nelectromagnetic energies of the latter, the polarizing of his\nmagnetic forces.\n\nThe horseshoe magnet does not impart its own magnetism to the piece\nof iron which is rubbed with it, but the electromagnetic energies in\nthe magnet arouse to vibratory activity the latent electromagnetic\nenergies in the iron. This is proved by the fact that both magnet\nand iron will remain magnetic as long as they are used for\nmagnetizing other substances, but through disuse both will lose\ntheir magnetic qualities.\n\nI am often asked by my operators and others: \"How can I best develop\nmy magnetism?\" and \"Is there danger of losing my vitality and\nbecoming 'negative' by treating the sick in this way?\" It is true\nthat manipulative work, like everything else, can be overdone and\nproduce harmful effects upon the operator. But within reasonable\nlimits, massage and magnetic treatments will not deplete the person\ngiving them, providing he keeps his system in good condition. His\nown vibrations must be harmonious on all planes of being, the\nphysical, mental, moral and spiritual. He must be inspired and\nactuated by the faith that he CAN heal, by the positive will to\nheal, and by sympathy for the one he is trying to benefit.\n\nSuch an operator makes himself the instrument for the transmission\nof life force, which is healing force, from the Source of all life.\n\"As he gives, so he receives\"; for this is the basic law of the\nuniverse, the Law of Compensation. If he gives the treatments in the\nright spirit, he will gain vital force instead of losing it. He will\nactually feel his own intensified life vibrations and after treating\nhe will experience a feeling of buoyancy and elation which nothing\nelse can impart to him. \"He who loses his life shall find it.\"\n\nLike a musician who tunes up (puts in harmonious vibration) the\nrelaxed strings of his instrument, so the magnetic healer tunes up\nand harmonizes the weakened and discordant vibrations of his\npatient.\n\nGood massage will produce electromagnetic effects even though the\noperator is not aware of it and does not understand the underlying\nlaws; but his work will gain in power and effectiveness in direct\nproportion to the conscious efforts he makes to benefit his patients\nby the influence of these higher and finer forces.\n\nI have frequently noticed in my own manipulative work how much the\nconscious and concentrated effort of the will has to do with its\neffectiveness. Often, when I had given the usual massage or\nosteopathic treatment and the patient still complained of pain in a\ncertain locality of the body, I would lay my hands on the affected\narea and concentrate my will upon dissolving the congestion in that\nparticular part or organ and upon harmonizing its discordant\nvibrations. Very shortly, usually within a few minutes, the\ncongestion would be relieved and the pain would subside.\n\nThe electromagnetic energies of the organism can be controlled by\nthe will and either concentrated to or sent away from any part of\nthe body, just as the circulation of the blood can be controlled.\nThe latter I saw done by a hypnotist who made the blood flow into\nand out of the arms and hands of one of his subjects simply by the\npower of his will.\n\nWhile this was accomplished by means of a destructive process, it\ntaught me a most valuable lesson regarding the power of the will to\ncontrol physical conditions.\n\nTry it yourself. Next time when you have one of your annoying\nheadaches, recline comfortably in a chair or on a couch, relax\ncompletely and then Will the blood to flow away from the brain in\norder to relieve the congestion and the attendant pain. Many of my\npatients have learned to treat themselves successfully in this way.\n\nIt is obvious that magnetic treatment will not remove pain\npermanently if the latter is due to irritation caused by a\nsubluxated bone or by some foreign body or by local accumulation of\nmorbid matter and poisons in any part or organ. In all such cases\nthe local cause of the irritation must be removed before the pain\ncan subside or disappear.\n\nSpinal Manipulation and Adjustment History\n\nIn many European countries \"bonesetters\" have, in a crude way, been\ntreating strains and sprains of the spinal column since time\nimmemorial. These bonesetters usually belong to the peasantry and\nthe art has been transmitted in the same families from father to son\nfor many generations.\n\nIncidentally, these simple people observed that their treatment\nrelieved not only sprained, tired and painful backs--the result\nprimarily aimed at--but frequently exerted a favorable influence\nupon disease processes in remote organs and parts. This empirical\ndiscovery has gradually led to a wider application of this method of\ntreatment.\n\nThe various modern systems of spinal manipulation, namely,\nosteopathy, chiropractic, naprapathy, neuropathy, spondylotherapy\nand our own neurotherapy, are all of distinctly American origin.\n\nDuring the last quarter century millions of Americans through\npersonal experience have become staunch adherents to one or more of\nthese systems of treatment. This fact has been instrumental in\ndirecting the attention of numerous sincere and scientific\ninvestigators to the spinal column with its associated structures as\na mechanism through which to apply therapeutic measures. It\ntherefore behooves every health seeker to acquaint himself with the\ntheories and claims of these various systems of manipulative\ntreatment.\n\nOsteopathy\n\nThe autobiography of Dr. A. T. Still contains the following\ninteresting statement:\n\n\"In the year 1874 I proclaimed that a disturbed artery marked the\nbeginning to an hour and a minute when disease began to sow its\nseeds of destruction in the human body. That in no case could it be\ndone without a broken or suspended current of arterial blood, which\nby Nature was intended to supply and nourish all nerves, ligaments,\nmuscles, skin, bones and the artery itself.  The rule of the artery\nmust be absolute, universal and unobstructed or disease will be the\nresult. I proclaimed then and there that all nerves depend wholly on\nthe arterial system for their qualities such as sensation, nutrition\nand motion, even though by the law of reciprocity they furnish\nforce, nutrition and motion to the artery itself.\"\n\nIt may be argued that as early as 1805 the Ling System of Swedish\nMovement was founded on the same principle, namely, \"permanent\nhealth through perfect circulation.\" The evidence at hand, however,\nstrongly suggests that the founder of osteopathy arrived at his\nconclusions independently.\n\nThe further claims of Dr. Still as to the cause and cure of disease\nare briefly as follows: Partial displacements of any of the various\nbones of the body exert pressure on neighboring blood vessels,\nthereby interfering with the circulation to the corresponding\norgans. These displacements, called \"bony lesions,\" are best\n\"reduced\" by manipulations called osteopathic \"moves.\"\n\nChiropractic\n\nIn 1895, Dr. D. D. Palmer put forth the following claims as to the\ncause and cure of diseases: Sprains of the spine result in partial\ndisplacement of one or more of the vertebrae which go to make up the\nspinal column, thus exerting pressure on the neighboring nerves.\nThis shuts off the vitality of the organs supplied by the affected\nnerves, hence disease results. These displacements, called\n\"vertebral subluxations,\" are best \"adjusted\" by means of\nmanipulations in the form of chiropractic \"thrusts.\"\n\nAs soon as osteopathy and chiropractic were properly established,\nthe more broad-minded exponents of both systems began mutual\ninvestigation and amalgamation. As a result, we find that only seven\nyears after the birth of chiropractic, osteopathic literature began\nto mention vertebral subluxations as pressing on nerves, thereby\ncausing disease. On the other hand, advanced chiropractors soon\nbegan to realize the importance of relaxing tense muscles prior to\ndelivering their thrusts. They also began to pay attention to the\nbony lesions other than those occurring in the spine. Many of the\nchiropractic principles and much of its technique of today has been\ngleaned from osteopathy, while the reverse statement holds equally\ntrue.\n\nNaprapathy\n\nThe \"connective tissue doctrine of disease\" was first proclaimed by\nDr. Oakley Smith in 1907. It may be briefly stated as follows: A\nvertebra does not become misplaced without being fractured or\ncompletely dislocated. What is called a bony lesion by the osteopath\nand a subluxation by the chiropractor, is in reality a \"ligatight,\"\nthat is, a shrunken condition of the connective tissue forming the\nvarious ligaments that bind the vertebrae together.\n\nLigatights are best \"corrected\" by means of naprapathic \"directos.\"\nThese differ from chiropractic thrusts in that they aim not at\nadjusting subluxated vertebrae but at stretching definite strands of\nshrunken connective tissue. Ligatights occur not only in the spine\nbut also in other parts of the body.\n\nNeuropathy\n\nThis system of manipulative treatment was originated in 1899 by Drs.\nJohn Arnold and Harry Walter of Philadelphia. Their claims may be\nbriefly stated as follows: Morbid matter, poisons and irritants of\nvarious kinds, acting upon the vasomotor nerves which control the\nblood vessels, produce abnormal changes in circulation which, if\nperpetuated, finally lead to disease manifestations. The nerve\nimpulses coming from diseased parts travel to the spinal cord and,\nlike all other nerve impulses, are transmitted along those branches\nof the spinal nerves which supply the structures (muscles, blood\nvessels, etc.) along each side of the spine. Here these impulses\nbring about abnormal circulatory changes similar to those found in\nthe diseased organs or parts.\n\nSince nerve impulses are transmitted from diseased organs to the\nspine, it is evident that they can be made to travel also in the\nreverse direction. Neuropathic treatment, therefore, consists of\nmanipulations and thermal applications which aim at correcting the\nabnormal circulatory changes as found in the spine, thereby\ncorrecting corresponding abnormal processes in the organs or parts\nsupplied by the nerves coming from that region of the spine.\n\nThese men also emphasized the fact that the circulation within the\nblood vessels, being propelled by the heart, needs less attention\nduring disease than the circulation of the fluids in the spaces\nbetween the cells and through the lymph vessels and glands.\nNeuropathy, therefore, also lays great stress on applying\nmanipulation and thermal applications to the lymphatic system.\n\nNeurotherapy\n\nWhile the exponents of the above systems of spinal manipulation\ndiffer widely in their theories as to the cause of disease and the\nmeans of removing such cause, their methods of treatment furnish\nconsiderable evidence of satisfactory results. This seems to suggest\nthat there must be some real value in each system and that a great\ndeal of the difference between these apparently opposed methods of\ntreatment lies in the claims of their exponents. It will be shown\npresently that, in their final analysis, the osteopathic spinal\nlesion, the chiropractic subluxation and the naprapathic ligatight\nrepresent one and the same thing.\n\nNatural Therapeutics is broad enough to embrace all methods of\ntreatment, no matter what their source, provided they harmonize with\nthe fundamental laws of cure.\n\nGradually, therefore, after having gathered the constructive\nelements from all the various methods of manipulation, after\nconsiderable spinal dissection and, above all, after close\nobservation of the results obtained in hundreds of obstinate acute\nand chronic cases, we of the School of Natural Therapeutics have\nevolved our own system of spinal manipulation and have named it\nneurotherapy.\n\nThe Relation of Neurotherapy to\n\nOther Manipulative Systems\n\nOsteopathy, chiropractic, naprapathy, neurotherapy and\nspondylotherapy, as we have learned, are various systems of\nmaipulative treatment which have been devised mainly to correct\nspinal and other bony lesions, shrinkage and contracture of muscles,\nligaments and other connective tissues.\n\nImportant as these methods are in the treatment of acute and chronic\ndiseases, by themselves they are not all-sufficient because they\ndeal only with the mechanical causes of disease, not with the\nchemical, thermal or with the mental and psychical. The most\nefficient spinal treatment cannot make good for the bad effects of\nan unbalanced diet which contains an excessive amount of\npoison-producing materials and is deficient in the all-important\nmineral elements or organic salts. Just as surely as mental\ntherapeutics and a natural diet cannot correct bony lesions produced\nby external violence, just so surely is it impossible to cure\ndementia praecox, monomania or obsession, or to supply iron, lime,\nsodium, etc., to the system by correcting spinal lesions.\n\nThe trouble with the manipulative schools and their graduates is\nthat they adhere too closely to the mechanical theory and treatment\nof disease; that they reject practically all natural methods of\ntreatment aside from manipulative and that so far as the osteopathic\nschool is concerned its practitioners show a strong tendency to fall\nback upon the \"Old School\" methods of drugging and of surgical\ntreatment. This is due to the fact that in many types of diseases\nmanipulative treatment by itself has proved insufficient to produce\nsatisfactory results.\n\nIn order to do justice to our patients and not neglect our\nresponsibilities toward them we must use in the treatment of disease\nall that is good in all the natural methods of healing. In serious\nchronic cases any single one of these methods, whether it be pure\nfood diet, hydrotherapy, massage, spinal treatment, mental\ntherapeutics or homeopathy, is not by itself sufficient to achieve\nsatisfactory results or to produce them fast enough.\n\nTo use an illustration: Suppose a wagon full of freight requires the\ncombined strength of six horses to move it and suppose that number\nof horses is available, would it not be foolish to try to move the\nload with one, two, three, four or even five horses? Would not\ncommon sense suggest the saving of time and effort by putting all\nsix horses to work at once?\n\nIn Natural Therapeutics every one of the various methods of\ntreatment is supplemented and assisted by all the others.\n\nThe manipulative schools of healing maintain that practically all\ndisease is caused by mechanical abnormalities of the spinal column\nor of muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues, due to\nabnormal strain or injury. The philosophy of Natural Therapeutics,\non the other hand, points out that a large percentage of such spinal\nand other mechanical lesions are secondary manifestations of\ndisease, not primary causes; that acute or subacute inflammatory\nconditions in the interior of the body may cause nervous irritation\nand thereby contraction of muscles and ligaments and, as a result of\nthese, subluxations of vertebrae or of other bony structures.\n\nThe naprapathic theory of disease postulates that it is the\nshrinkage and contraction of the connective tissues, which serve as\na support and protection for the nerve matter contained in the nerve\ntrunks and filaments, that cause interference with the normal nerve\nsupply of cells and tissues and thereby abnormal function and\ndisease.\n\nThe philosophy of Natural Therapeutics points to the fact that this\nshrinkage and contraction of the connective tissues surrounding and\npermeating the nerve trunks and filaments is caused by certain acids\nand other pathogenic materials which are produced by faulty diet and\ndefective elimination and that the same causes produce accumulation\nof waste and morbid matter in the tissues of the body which, all\nthrough the system, interfere just as effectually with nutrition,\ndrainage and innervation of the cells and tissue as do spinal\nlesions and ligatights.\n\nWhile the other systems of manipulative treatment confine themselves\nalmost entirely to the correction of bony and other connective\ntissue lesions, to \"pressing the button,\" as it is called,\nneurotherapy, besides this, aims at other very important results.\n\nIn disease the tissues are either in an abnormally tense and\ncontracted or in a weak, relaxed condition. The functional\nactivities are either hyperactive as in acute inflammation, or\nsluggish and inactive as in chronic atonic and atrophic conditions.\nThese extremes can be powerfully influenced and equalized by\nmanipulative inhibition, relaxation or stimulation.\n\nDuring an acute attack of gastritis, for instance, the\nneurotherapist would exert strong inhibition on the nerves which\nsupply the stomach. This is accomplished by deep and persistent\npressure on the nerves where they emerge from the spinal openings\n(foramina). This diminishes the rush of blood and nerve currents to\nthe inflamed organ and thereby eases but does not suppress the\ninflammatory process and the attending congestion and pain.\n\nIn case of extreme tension in any part of the system, relaxation of\nthe shrunken tissues can be brought about by gentle but persistent\nstretching of the nerves and adjacent muscles and ligaments, in a\nmanner similar to that of the naprapathic directos.\n\nWhen the vital organs and their functions are weak and inactive or\nwhen nerves, muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues are in\na relaxed, atonic or atrophic condition, certain stimulating\nmovements applied to the nerves where they emerge from the spinal\ncolumn will energize the vital functions all through the system.\n\nMany patients imagine that such manipulative treatment is\nsuperficial. To them it is just \"rubbing\" and seems all alike. They\ndo not realize that manipulative stimulation applied to the nerves\nnear the surface of the body travels all along their branches and\nfilaments like electricity along a complicated system of copper\nwires and thus reaches the innermost cells and organs of the body,\nmaking them more alive and active. This internal stimulation of\nvital activities is attained also by good massage through energizing\nthe nerve endings all over the surface of the body.\n\nThe Fundamental Difference Between Neuratherapy\nand Other Manipulative Systems\n\nThe following paragraphs will explain the fundamental difference\nbetween neurotherapy and the older systems of manipulative\ntreatment. The older systems, the same as the allopathic school of\nmedicine, look upon acute diseases as destructive processes\ndangerous to health and life; therefore they endeavor to check or\nsuppress them as quickly as possible by their various methods.\n\nNeurotherapy so far is the only system of manipulative treatment\nthat bases its work on the fundamental laws of Natural Therapeutics.\nAccording to these laws every acute disease is the result of a\npurifying, healing effort of Nature. Therefore neurotherapy would\nnot suppress acute processes by manipulative treatment any more than\nby drugs, ice, antitoxins, surgery or any other suppressive method.\n\nTo illustrate: Supposing that spontaneously or as a result of\nnatural living and treatment a patient suffering from chronic\nconstipation, indigestion, etc., develops a vigorous purging, which\nwe of the Nature Cure school would consider a splendid healing\ncrisis. Under allopathic as well as under the treatment of other\nmanipulative schools such an acute reaction would be immediately\nsuppressed. This can be accomplished very easily by a few\nmanipulative moves, but it would mean the suppression of a purifying\nhealing crisis and this would result in throwing the patient back\ninto his old chronic condition. The underlying causes of disease\nmust be removed before we can cure chronic disease and bring about a\nnormal condition of the organism.\n\nSuppose manipulative treatment should succeed in stopping a fever\ninstantaneously. This would suppress Nature's purifying,\nregenerating efforts, the patient would continue to \"load up\" more\nmorbid materials (especially since these schools do not teach the\nimportance of natural living) and it would only be a matter of time\nuntil the morbid accumulations in the body would excite new acute\nreactions, necessitating more adjustments. This may be all right for\nthe practitioner; but what about the patient? In the long run it can\nonly have one result, and that is chronic disease.\n\n\n\nChapter XXXIII\n\n\nLegitimate Scope and Natural Limitations\nof Mental and Metaphysical Healing\n\n\nDuring the last generation people have perceived more or less\nclearly the fallacies of \"Old School\" medicine and surgery. They\nhave grown more and more suspicious of orthodox theories and\npractices. From allopathic \"overdoing\" the pendulum has swung to the\nother extreme of metaphysical nihilism, to the \"underdoing\" of\nmental and metaphysical systems of treating human ailments.\n\nSome of these systems and cults of metaphysical healing have met\nwith success and wide popularity and this is looked upon by their\nfollowers as a proof that all the claims and teachings of these\ncults and isms are based upon absolute truth.\n\nHowever, a thorough understanding of the fundamental Laws of Cure,\nas I have explained them in this volume, will reveal in how far\ntheir teachings and their practices are based upon truth and in how\nfar they are inspired by erroneous assumptions.\n\nLet us then apply the yardstick and the weights and measures of\nNature Cure philosophy in testing the true value of the claims of\nmetaphysical healers.\n\nFor ages people have been educated in the belief that almost every\nacute disease will end fatally unless the patient is drugged or\noperated on. When they find to their surprise that the metaphysical\nformulas or prayers of a mental healer or Christian Scientist will\n\"cure\" baby's measles or father's smallpox just as well as, and\npossibly better than, Dr. Dopem's pills and potions, they are firmly\nconvinced that a miracle has been performed in their behalf and\nstraightway they become blind believers in and fanatical followers\nof their new idols.\n\nThey simply exchange one superstition for another: the belief in the\nefficacy of drugs and surgical operations for the belief in the\nwonder-working power of a metaphysical formula, a self-appointed\nsavior or a reason-stultifying and will-benumbing cult. They have\nnot been taught that every acute disease is the result of a healing\neffort of Nature and therefore fail to see that it is vital force,\nthe physician within, that, if conditions are favorable, cures\nmeasles and smallpox as easily as it repairs the broken blade of\ngrass or heals the wounded deer of the forest.\n\n\"That is exactly what we say,\" exclaim healer and scientist. \"Have\nunlimited faith in the God within and all will be well.\"\n\nTrue, faith is good, but faith and works are better. Though we\ncannot heal and give life, we can in many ways assist the healer\nwithin. We can teach and explain Nature's Laws, we can remove\nobstructions and we can make the conditions within and around the\npatient more favorable for the action of Nature's healing forces.\n\nWhen the Great Master said: \"Go forth and sin no more, lest worse\nthings than these befall you,\" he acknowledged sin, or the\ntransgression of natural laws, to be the primary cause of disease,\nand made health dependent upon compliance with the Law. The\nnecessity of complying with the Law, in all respects and on all the\nplanes of being, is still more strongly emphasized in the following:\n\n\"For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point,\nhe is guilty of all.\"\n\nThe skeptic and the superficial reader may reply: \"This saying is\nutterly unreasonable. Stealing a penny is not committing a murder;\novereating does not break the law of chastity; how, then, is it\npossible to break all laws by breaking any single one of them?\"\nThere is, however, a deeper meaning to this seeming paradox which\nmakes it scientifically true.\n\nSelf-Control, the Whole Law\n\nObedience to all laws on all planes of being depends primarily on\nself-control. Self-control is, therefore, in a sense, the whole law,\nfor man cannot break any one law unless he breaks first this\nfundamental Law of all Laws. This implies that the demoralizing\neffect of sinning or law-breaking, on any one of the planes of\nbeing, does not depend so much upon the enormity of the deed as upon\nthe loss of self-control. Continued weakening of self-control in\ntrivial things may therefore, in the end, prove more destructive\nthan a murder committed in the heat of passion. If there is not\nself-control enough to resist a cup of coffee or a cigar, whence\nshall come the will-power to resist greater temptations?\n\nTruly, lack of self-control in small things is the \"dry rot\" of the\nsoul. Is it not, then, somewhat unreasonable to expect God or Nature\nto strain and twist the immutable laws of Nature at the request of\nevery healer in order to save us from the natural consequences of\novereating, red meat eating, whisky drinking, smoking, tobacco\nchewing, drugging and a thousand and one other transgressions of\nnatural laws?\n\nIn spite of the finest-spun metaphysical sophistries, we continue to\nburn our fingers in the fire until we know enough to leave it alone.\nHerein lies the corrective purpose of that which we call\nevil--suffering and disease. The rational thing to do is not to deny\nthe existence of Mother Nature's punishing rod, but to escape her\nsalubrious spankings by conforming to her Laws.\n\nWhat about the \"Cures\"?\n\nAs in medicine, so also in metaphysical healing, men judge by\nsuperficial results, not by the real underlying causes. The usual\nanswer to any criticism of Christian Science or kindred methods of\ncure is: \"That may be all right; but see the results! Nobody can\ndeny their wonderful cures,\" etc.\n\nLet us see whether there really is anything wonderful or\nsupernatural about these cures or whether they can be explained on\nsimple, natural grounds.\n\nIn another chapter we explain the difference between functional and\norganic disease and show how in diseases of the functional type the\nlife force or healing force, which always endeavors to establish\nnormal conditions and the perfect type, may work unaided up to the\nreconstructive healing crises and through these eliminate the morbid\nencumbrances from the system and reestablish normal structure and\nfunction.\n\nIt is in cases like these that metaphysicians attain their best\nresults simply because Nature helps herself.\n\nOn the other hand, in cases of the true organic type, where the\nvitality is low and the destruction of vital parts and organs has\nprogressed to a considerable extent, the system is no longer able to\narouse itself to self-help.\n\nIn such cases, faith alone is not sufficient to obtain results. It\nmust be backed and assisted by all the natural methods of treatment\nat our command.\n\nHealers Work with Laws that\n\nThey Do Not Understand\n\nIn our critical analysis of \"Old School\" methods we found that by\nfar the greater part of all chronic ailments is due to drugging and\nto surgery. People commence doctoring for little troubles, which are\naggravated by every dose of medicine and every surgical operation\nuntil they end in big troubles.\n\nIs it marvelous that such patients improve and that many are cured\nwhen they are weaned from drugs and the knife?\n\nMetaphysical healers unwittingly do their best and most beneficial\nwork because they induce their followers not to suppress acute\ndiseases and healing crises by drugs and surgical operations, thus\nallowing them to run their natural course in harmony with the\nfundamental law of Nature Cure, which states that every acute\ndisease is the result of a cleansing and healing effort of Nature.\nPeople will refrain from the suppressive drug treatment under the\ninfluence of metaphysical teachings, which appeal to the\nmiracle-loving element in their nature, when they cannot be\nconvinced by common sense Nature Cure reasoning.\n\nThus metaphysicians assist Nature indirectly by noninterference and\ndirectly by soothing fear and worry, by instilling faith, hope and\nconfidence. Frequently they also aid Nature by prohibiting the use\nof tobacco, alcohol and pork, and by regulating otherwise the life\nand habits of their followers.\n\nLet us consider the problem from another point of view. Let us\nassume, for argument's sake, that the average person passes in the\ncourse of a lifetime through a dozen different diseases. He recovers\nfrom eleven of these, no matter what the treatment. It is only the\ntwelfth to which he succumbs. Yet, whosoever happened to treat the\nfirst eleven diseases claims to have cured them and, perhaps, to\nhave saved the patient's life when, as a matter of fact, he\nrecovered very often in spite of the treatment and not because of\nit.\n\nThese explanations account for the seemingly miraculous results of\nmetaphysical healing. If healers and Christian Scientists were to\nexplain their cures by the laws and principles of Nature Cure\nphilosophy, mystery and miracle would be taken out of their\nbusiness.\n\n\"Faith Without Works\" Is Dangerous\n\nTo believe that God or Nature will overcome the natural effects of\nour ignorance, laziness and viciousness by wonders, signs and\nmetaphysics, or to deny the existence of sickness, sin and\nsuffering, must lead inevitably to intellectual and moral stagnation\nand degeneration. I am a thorough and consistent optimist and New\nThought enthusiast, but I do not overlook the fact that in this, as\nin everything else, there lurks always the danger of overdoing and\nof exaggerating virtue into fault.\n\nThe greatest danger of this revulsion from old-time pessimism to\nmodern optimism lies in the fact that the Higher Thought enthusiast\nmay cut from under his feet the solid ground of reality; that he may\nbecome a dreamer instead of a thinker and doer; and that he may\nmistake selfish, emotional sentimentalism for practical charity and\naltruism.\n\nThis unhealthy \"all-is-good, there-is-no-evil\" emotionalism leads\nonly too often to weakening of personal effort, a deadening of the\nsense of individual responsibility and thereby to mental and moral\natrophy; for any of our voluntary functions, capacities and powers\nwhich we fail to exercise will in time become benumbed and\nparalyzed. Unprejudiced observers who come in close contact with\nmetaphysicians cannot help perceiving the pernicious effect of their\nsubtle sophistries on reason and character.\n\nA chronic invalid who had been under the treatment of a faith healer\nfor several years exclaimed, when we gave her our various\ninstructions for dieting, bathing, breathing exercises, etc.: \"How\nglad I am that you give me something to do! I fear I have been\nimposing too long on the goodness of the Lord, expecting Him to do\nmy work for me.\" Often afterwards, while recovering from lifelong\nailments, she expressed her happiness and contentment in that she\nherself was doing something which in her opinion was rational and\nhelpful because it assisted Nature's healing efforts.\n\nWe believe firmly and fully in the influence of mind over matter, in\nthe fact that vibrations of the physical plane by continuity create\ncorresponding vibrations on the mental and psychical planes and vice\nversa. We know that, in accordance with this law, anything which\naffects the mind or the moral life of a person affects also his\nphysical condition; but instead of hypnotizing the minds of our\npatients by law-defying, reason-and will-benumbing dogmas and\nformulas, we strengthen and harmonize their mental vibrations by\nappealing to reason, by teaching and explaining natural laws instead\nof obscuring and denying them.\n\nThe more intelligent the patient, the more amenable he will be to\nsuch normal suggestions based on scientific truth and on the\ndictates of reason and common sense.\n\nWhile nonresistance to Nature's healing efforts is better than\nsuppression by drugs or the knife, there is something more helpful\nand rational than the negative attitude toward disease on the\nphysical plane assumed by metaphysical healing cults. That\n\"something\" is intelligent cooperation with Nature's cleansing and\nhealing efforts.\n\nWhere the Old School fails by sins of commission, the Faith Schools\nfail by sins of omission. Many patients are sacrificed daily through\nfanatical inactivity, when their lives might be saved by a wet pack\nor a cold sponge bath, by an internal bath, rational diet, judicious\nfasting, scientific manipulation or some other simple yet powerful\nremedy of natural healing. To permit a patient to perish in a\nburning fever, depending solely upon the efficacy of prayers,\nformulas and mental attitude, when wet packs and cold sponging would\nin a few minutes reduce the temperature below the danger point, is\nmanslaughter, even though it be done in the name of religion.\n\nIncidents like the following are common in our practice: A little\ngirl in the neighborhood of our institution was taken with\ndiphtheria. The mother, an ardent Christian Scientist, called in\nseveral healers of her cult, but the child grew worse from day to\nday, until the false membranes in the throat began to choke her to\ndeath.\n\nA boarder in the house, who was a follower of Nature Cure, finally\ninduced the mother to call upon us for advice by threatening to\nnotify the City Health Department. Within an hour after the\napplication of the whole-body packs and the cold ablutions, the\nblood was sufficiently drawn away from the local congestion in the\nthroat into the surface of the body, so that the child breathed\neasily and freely, and from then on made a splendid recovery.\n\nAnother instance: A man had been suffering from sciatic rheumatism\nfor fifteen years. He had swallowed poisonous drugs to no avail. For\nseveral years he had been under Mental Science treatment, but the\nsuffering had grown more intense.\n\nWhen he applied to us for help, we found that the right hip bone\n(the innominate) had slipped upward and backward. A few manipulative\ntreatments replaced the bone where it belonged, and the sciatic\nrheumatism was cured.\n\nIn this case, the combined concentration and prayers of all the\nmetaphysical healers on earth would not have succeeded in replacing\nthe dislocated hip bone, which required the full strength of a\ntrained manipulator.\n\nMetaphysicians could not have accomplished this feat any more than\nthey could have moved, by their mental efforts, a hundred-pound\nweight from one place to another. Mechanical lesions of that kind\n(and there are many of them) require mechanical treatment.\n\nAnother factor which makes converts to metaphysical healing cults by\nthe hundreds and thousands is the get-rich-quick instinct in human\nnature, the desire to get something for nothing, or with as little\neffort as possible. Herein lies the seductive pull of old-time\ndrugging and of modern metaphysics. \"It does not matter how you\nlive; when you get into trouble, a bottle of medicine or a\nmetaphysical formula will make it all right.\" That sounds very easy\nand promising, but the trouble is--it does not always work.\n\nOur forefathers were too pessimistic; higher thought enthusiasts are\noften too optimistic. While the former poisoned their lives and\nparalyzed their God-given faculties and powers by dismal dread of\nhell's fire and damnation, our modern healers and Scientists have\ndrifted to the other extreme. They tell us there is no sin, no pain,\nno suffering. If that be true, there is also no action and reaction,\nno Law of Compensation, no personal responsibility, no need of\nself-control, self-help or personal effort.\n\nThe ideal of the faith healer is the ideal of the animal. The animal\ntrusts implicitly, it has absolute faith; guided by instinct, God,\nor Nature, it follows the promptings of its appetites and passions\nwithout worrying about right or wrong. It acts today as it did ten\nthousand years ago.\n\nIn man, reason has taken the place of instinct; we must think and\nmanage for ourselves. We are free and responsible moral agents. If\nwe deny this, we deny the very foundations of equity, justice and\nright. It behooves us to use the talents which God has given us, to\nstudy the laws of our being and to comply with them to the best of\nour ability, so that enlightened reason may take the place of animal\ninstinct and guide us to physical, mental and moral perfection.\n\n\n\nChapter XXXIV\n\n\nThe Difference Between Functional and Organic Disease\n\n\nMuch confusion concerning the curability of chronic diseases by the\nvarious methods of treatment arises because people do not understand\nthe difference between functional and organic chronic disease.\n\nFor instance, there is a close resemblance between pseudo-and true\nlocomotor ataxy. Often it is difficult to distinguish functional\nlung trouble from the organic type of the disease. In our practice,\nseveral cases of mental derangement which had been diagnosed as true\nparesis proved to be of the functional type and under natural\ntreatment recovered rapidly.\n\nFunctional diseases may present a very serious appearance and may be\nlabeled with awe-inspiring Greek or Latin names, and yet yield\nreadily to natural methods of living and treatment.\n\nIn diseases of an organic nature, however, right living and\nself-treatment are usually not sufficient to obtain satisfactory\nresults. In such cases all forms of active and passive treatment\nmust be applied, and even then it is frequently difficult and\nsometimes impossible to produce a cure.\n\nChronic diseases of a functional nature develop when an otherwise\nhealthy organism becomes saturated and clogged with food and drug\npoisons to such an extent that these encumbrances interfere with the\nfree circuation of the blood and nerve currents, and with the normal\nfunctions of the cells, organs and tissues of the body.\n\nSuch cases resemble a watch which is losing time because its works\nare filled with dust. All that such a waste-encumbered watch or body\nneeds, in order to restore normal functions, is a good cleaning.\nPure food diet, fasting, systematic exercise, deep breathing, cold\nbathing and the right mental attitude are usually sufficient to\nperform this physical housecleaning and to restore perfect health.\n\nFunctional disorders yield readily to the various forms of\nmetaphysical treatment. Remove such patients from the weakening and\ndestructive effects of poisonous drugs and of surgical operations,\nsupplant fear and worry by courage and faith, and the results often\nseem miraculous to those who do not understand the power of the\npurifying and stimulating influence of clean living and of the right\nmental attitude.\n\nIn diseases of the organic type, however, good results are not so\neasily achieved. A body affected by organic disease resembles a\nwatch whose mechanism has been injured and partly destroyed by rust\nand corrosive acids. If such be the case, cleaning and oiling alone\nwill not be sufficient to put the timepiece in good working order.\nThe watchmaker has to replace the damaged parts.\n\nThis is easy enough in the case of the watch, but it is not so\neasily accomplished in the human body. Besides, in many instances\nthe corroding acids are the very medicines which were given to cure\nthe disease and the injury and destruction of vital parts and organs\nis only too often the direct or indirect result of surgical\noperations.\n\nThe watchmaker may remove those parts of the watch which are\nsuffering from organic trouble, and replace them by new ones. This\nthe surgeon cannot do. He can extirpate, but he cannot replace.\nOperative treatment leaves the organism forever after in a mutilated\nand therefore unbalanced condition, and often prevents and\nfrustrates Nature's cleansing and healing crises.\n\nThe Limitations of Metaphysical Healing\n\nIn the writings of metaphysical healers we often meet the assertion\nthat they can cure organic diseases as easily and quickly as\nfunctional ailments. If they understood better the difference\nbetween functional and organic disorders as explained in the\nforegoing pages, they would not make such deceptive and extravagant\nclaims. They would then realize the natural limitations of\nmeta-physical healing.\n\nI do not underestimate the great value of mental, metaphysical\nand spiritual healing methods. Of these I shall speak more fully in\nsubsequent chapters. But I do claim that we can and should aid\nNature's healing efforts not only by the right mental attitude and\nthe prayer of faith, but also by natural living and many different\nmethods of physical treatment.\n\nMental attitude alone will not clean the watch. To concentrate on\nthe work of housecleaning without using broom, soap and water is not\nsufficient. Reason and common sense teach us that the removal of\nphysical, material encumbrances can be, to say the least,\naccelerated by the use of physical or physiological agents. Anyone\nwho has observed or himself experienced the efficacy of natural\ndiet, cold-water treatment, massage and osteopathy in dealing with\nthe morbid accumulations in the system will never again\nunderestimate the practical value of these \"brooms.\"\n\nIn our study of the nature and purpose of acute diseases we have\nfound that Nature tries to purify the system from its morbid\nencumbrances through inflammatory, febrile processes (acute\ndiseases) and that these cleansing efforts of Nature are generally\nprevented, checked and suppressed by allopathic methods of medical\nand surgical treatment, and thus changed into chronic disease\nconditions.\n\nThe metaphysical healers do away with these suppressive methods of\ntreatment and allow Nature's acute cleansing and healing efforts to\nrun their natural course. Thus they profit by the fundamental laws\nof cure without understanding them. The acute disease, whose very\nexistence they deny, is in reality the cure.\n\nFurthermore, rational mental and metaphysical treatment supports\nNature's efforts actively by supplanting the weakening and\nparalyzing fear vibrations with relaxing and invigorating vibrations\nof hope, confidence and faith in the supremacy of Nature's healing\nforces. Under these favorable conditions, the organism will arouse\nitself to the purifying and constructive healing crises (the\nchemicalizations of Christian Science) and through these eliminate\nthe morbid encumbrances and restore normal structure and functions.\n\nWhile functional disorders, in nearly every case, yield\nreadily enough to the natural methods of living and of treatment and\nto the right mental attitude, it is different with organic diseases.\n\nWhen waste matter, ptomaines or poisonous alkaloids and acids\nproduced in the body as a result of wrong diet and other violations\nof Nature's laws have brought about destruction and corrosion in\nvital parts and organs--when dislocations and subluxations of bony\nstructures, or new growths and accumulations in the forms of tumors,\nstones or gravel obstruct the blood vessels and nerve currents, shut\noff the supply of the vital fluids and thus cause malnutrition and\ngradual decay of the tissues--when, in addition to this, the\norganism has been poisoned or mutilated by drugs and surgical\noperations, then its purification and repair becomes a tedious and\ndifficult task.\n\nNot only must the mechanism of the body be cleansed and freed from\nobstructive and destructive materials, but the injured parts must be\nrepaired, morbid growths and abnormal formations dissolved and\neliminated and lesions in the bony structures corrected by\nmanipulative treatment.\n\nIn organic diseases, the vitality is usually so low and destruction\nso great that the organism cannot arouse itself to self-help. Even\nthe cessation of suppressive treatment and the stimulating influence\nof mental and metaphysical therapeutics are not sufficient to bring\nabout the reconstructive healing crises. This can only be\naccomplished by the combined influences of all the natural methods\nof living and of treatment.\n\nIt is in cases like these that metaphysical healing and hygienic\nliving find their limitations. Such organic defects require\nsystematic treatment by all the methods, active and passive, which\nthe best Nature Cure sanitariums can furnish. It may be slow and\nlaborious work to obtain satisfactory results, and if the vitality\nis too low or the destruction of vital parts and organs has too far\nadvanced, even the best and most complete combination of natural\nmethods of treatment may fail to produce a cure.\n\nHowever, this can be determined only by a fair trial of the natural\nmethods. The forces of Nature are ever ready to react to persistent,\nsystematic effort in the right direction and when there is enough\nvitality to keep alive there is likely to be enough to purify and\nreconstruct the organism and in time to bring about improvement and\ncure.\n\nThis, then, explains why, in the organic types of diseases,\nmetaphysical methods of treatment alone are insufficient. At least\none-half of the patients that come to the Nature Cure physician have\nfaithfully tried these methods without avail, but the failures are\neasily excused by lack of faith, wrong mental attitude or something\nwrong with the patient or his surroundings.\n\nIn our experience with patients who had formerly tried metaphysical\nmethods of healing faithfully, but without results, we sometimes\ncome face to face with a curious and amusing phase of human nature.\nAs our patients improve under the natural regimen and treatment,\nthey gradually return to their first love and ascribe the good\neffects of natural treatment to a better understanding of \"the\nScience.\" As health and strength return, they say: \"Formerly I did\nnot know just how to apply the Science, but now I know, and that is\nwhy I am growing better.\"\n\nI suppose this form of self-deception which we have frequently\nobserved is due to the fact that people feel flattered by the idea\nthat Providence has taken a special interest in their case and cured\nthem by miraculous intervention. It is so much more interesting to\nbe cured by some occult principle than by diet and cold water.\n\nUndoubtedly it is this miracle-loving element in human nature that\nmakes metaphysical healing so much more popular than plain,\ncommonsense Nature Cure.\n\nNot long ago Professor Munsterberg investigated the claims of\nChristian Scientists that they were constantly curing diseases of\nthe organic type. He reported his findings in a series of articles\nin McClure's Magazine (1908), stating that he inquired personally\ninto one hundred cases said to have been cured by Christian Science\nand found that ninety-two of them had been of the functional type,\nwhile eight were claimed to have been organic, but that in no\ninstance could this be proved beyond doubt.\n\n\n\nChapter XXXV\n\n\nThe Two-fold Attitude of Mind and Soul\n\n\nThe following is an extract from a letter sent to me by a reader of\nmy articles in ~The Nature Cure Magazine.~\n\n\"Sometimes you say we must rely on our own personal efforts and at\nother times you teach dependence upon a higher power. This, to me,\nis contradictory and confusing. I cannot understand how,\nconsistently, we can do both at the same time. Which is right? Is it\nbest to rely upon our own power and our personal efforts or upon the\n'Higher Power'?\"\n\nSimilar inquiries have come from other friends. I shall now endeavor\nto answer these and other questions.\n\nThere is nothing contradictory or incompatible in the teachings of\nthe Nature Cure philosophy concerning the physical and metaphysical\nmethods of treating human ailments. Both the independent and the\ndependent attitudes of mind and soul are good and true and may be\nentertained at the same time. It is necessary for us to rely on our\nown personal efforts in carrying out the dictates of reason and of\ncommon sense. But this need not prevent us from praying for and\nconfidently expecting a larger inflow of vital power and intuitional\ndiscernment from the Source of all intelligence and power in the\ninnermost parts of our being.\n\nThis two-fold attitude of mind and soul is justified not only by\nreason and intuition, but also by the anatomical structure of the\nhuman organism and its physiological and psychological faculties,\ncapacities and powers.\n\nThe activities of the human organism are governed by two different\nsystems of nerves, the sympathetic and the motor. The sympathetic\nnervous system is the conveyor of vital force to the organs and\ncells of the body. Just what this vital force is and where it\nultimately comes from, we do not know. It is a manifestation of that\nwhich we call God, Nature, Life, the Higher Power or the Divine\nWithin.\n\nHeart action, the circulation of the blood, respiration, digestion,\nassimilation of food, elimination and all other involuntary\nactivities and functions of the human organism are controlled by\nmeans of the sympathetic nervous system. The nature of the\ncontrolling force itself is not known to us. We do know that it is\nsupremely powerful, intelligent and benevolent.\n\nThe more we study the anatomy, physiology and psychology of the\nhuman organism, the more we wonder at its marvelous complexity and\ningenuity of structure and function. Every moment there are enacted\nin our bodies innumerable mechanical, chemical and psychological\nmiracles. Who, or what, performs these miracles? We do not know. Yet\nevery moment of our lives depends upon the infinite care and wisdom\nof this unknown intelligence and power.\n\nWhy, then, should we not trust the One so faithful? Why should we\nnot ask aid from One so powerful? Why not seek enlightenment from\nOne who is so wise and so benevolent?\n\nHowever, not all of the human entity is dependent upon a controlling\npower, nor are all its functions involuntary. Within the house\nprepared by the Divine Intelligence, there dwells a sovereign in his\nown right and by his own might. He is endowed with freedom of\ndesire, of choice and of action. He creates in his brain the nerve\ncenters which control the voluntary activities of the body and from\nthese brain centers he sends his commands through the fibers of the\nmotor nerves to the voluntary muscles and makes them do his bidding;\nsome he commands to walk, others to laugh, to eat, to speak, etc.\n\nThis independent principle in man we call the ego, the individual\nintelligence. It imagines, desires, reasons, plans and works out, by\nthe power of free will and independent choice, its own salvation or\ndestruction, physically, mentally, morally and spiritually. By means\nof the motor nervous system, this thinker and doer directs and\ncontrols from the headquarters in the brain all the voluntary\nfunctions, capacities and powers of the human organism.\n\nThis part of the human entity can evolve and progress only through\nits own conscious and voluntary personal efforts.\n\nIn this, Man differs from the animal creation. The animal is able to\ntake care of itself shortly after birth. It inherits, already fully\ndeveloped, those brain centers for the control of the bodily\nfunctions which the newborn human must develop slowly and\nlaboriously through patient and persistent effort in the course of\nmany years.\n\nOf voluntary capacities and powers the newborn infant possesses\nlittle more than the simplest unicellular animalcule, that is, about\nall it can do is to scent and swallow food. Its cerebral hemispheres\nare as yet blank slates, to be inscribed gradually by its conscious\nand voluntary exertions. Before it can think, reason, speak, walk or\ndo anything else, it must first develop in its brain special centers\nfor each and every one of these voluntary faculties and functions.\n\nThrough these persistent personal efforts, reason, will and\nself-control are gradually evolved and developed; while the animal,\nbeing hereditarily endowed with the faculties and functions\nnecessary for the maintenance of life, has no occasion for the\ndevelopment of the higher faculties and powers and therefore remains\nan irresponsible automaton, which cannot be held accountable for its\nactions.\n\nTo recapitulate: Freedom of choice and of action distinguish the\nhuman from the animal. In the animal kingdom, reasoning power and\nfreedom of action move in the narrow limits of heredity and\ninstinct, while Man, through his own personal efforts, is capable of\nunlimited development physically, mentally, morally and spiritually,\nboth here and hereafter. We say physically advisedly, for in the\nspiritual realms, in the life after death, the physical\n(spiritual-material) body also is capable of deterioration or of\never greater refinement and beautification.\n\nThrough the right use of his voluntary faculties, capacities and\npowers, Man is enabled to become the master of himself and of his\ndestiny.\n\nThus we find that the human organism consists of two distinct parts\nor departments, the one acting independently of the ego and deriving\nits motive force from an unknown source and the other under the\nconscious and voluntary control of the ego.\n\nThis two-fold nature of the human entity justifies the two-fold\nattitude of mind and soul, on the one hand the prayerful and\nfaithful dependence upon that mysterious power which flows into us\nand controls us through the sympathetic nervous system and on the\nother hand the conscious and voluntary dominion over the various\nfaculties, capacities and powers with which Nature has endowed us.\n\nIt is our privilege and our duty to maintain both attitudes, the\ndependent as well as the independent. The desire and the will to\nplan, to choose and to perform are ours, but for the power to\nexecute we are dependent upon a Higher Source.\n\n\n\nChapter XXXVI\n\n\nThe Symphony of Life\n\n\nHuman life appears to me as a great orchestra in which we are the\nplayers. The great composition to be performed is the \"Symphony of\nLife,\" its infinitude of dissonances and melodies blending into one\ncolossal tone picture of harmony and grandeur. We players must study\nthe laws of music and the score of the Great Symphony and we must\npractice diligently and persistently, until we can play our part\nunerringly in harmony with the concepts of the Great Composer. At\nthe same time we must learn to keep our instrument, the body, in the\nbest possible condition; for the greatest artist, endowed with a\nprofound knowledge of the laws of music and possessed of the most\nperfect technique, cannot produce musical and harmonious sounds from\nan instrument with strings relaxed or overtense, or with its body\nfilled with rubbish.\n\nThe artist must learn that the instrument, its material, its\nconstruction and its care are just as subject to law as the\nharmonics of the score.\n\nIn the final analysis, everything is vibration acting in and on the\nuniversal ethers, which are held to be the primordial substance.\nPossibly the ethers themselves are modes of vibration.\n\nThat which is constructive is harmonious vibration. That which is\ndestructive is inharmonious or discordant vibration.\n\nAgainst this it may be urged that devolution has its harmonics as\nwell as evolution, that every symphony is made up of dissonances as\nwell as of harmonies. To this I answer: \"Unadulterated harmony may,\nsolely for lack of change, become monotonous; but discords alone\nnever create melody, harmony, health or happiness.\"\n\nAs the artist seeks vibratory harmony between his instrument and the\nharmonics of the universe of sound, so the health-seeker must\nendeavor to establish vibratory unison between the material elements\nof his body and Nature's harmonics of health in the physical\nuniverse.\n\nThe atoms and molecules in the wood and strings of the violin, as\nwell as the sounds produced from them, are modes of motion or\nvibration. In order to bring forth musical and harmonious notes, the\nvibratory conditions of the physical elements of the violin must be\nin harmonious vibratory relationship with Nature's harmonics in the\nuniverse of sound.\n\nThe elements and forces composing the human body are also vibratory\nin their nature, the same as the material elements of the violin.\nThey also must be kept in a certain well-balanced chemical\ncombination, mechanical adjustment and physical refinement before\nthey can vibrate in unison with Nature's harmonics in the physical\nuniverse and thus produce the harmonies of health and strength and\nbeauty.\n\nIf our instrument is out of tune, or if we ignorantly or willfully\ninsist on playing in our own way, regardless of the score, we create\ndiscords not only for ourselves, but also for our fellow artists in\nthe great orchestra of life.\n\nSin, disease, suffering and evil are nothing but discords, produced\nby the ignorance, indifference or malice of the players. Therefore we\ncannot attribute the discords of life to the Great Composer. They\nare of our own making and will last as long as we refuse to learn\nour parts and to play them in tune with the Great Score. For in this\nway only can we ever hope to master the art and science of right\nliving and to enjoy the harmonies of peace, self-content and\nhappiness.\n\n\n\nChapter XXXVII\n\n\nThe Three-fold Constitution of Man\n\n\nThe following diagram and accompanying explanations will serve to\nillustrate \"Three Planes of Being,\" the corresponding \"Three-fold\nConstitution of man,\" and their analogy tothe artist and his\ninstrument.\n\nThe Three-fold Constitution of Man\n\n~Planes of Being~\n\n~Three-fold Constitution of Man~\n\n~Analogy~\n\nPsychical or Moral\n\nSoul\n\nMusic, Laws of Harmony\n\nMental\n\nMind\n\nPlayer\n\nMaterial\n\nBodies\n\n(Physical and Spiritual)\n\nViolin\n\nMan lives and functions on three distinct planes of being: the\nphysical-material and spiritual-material, the mental and the soul\n(psychical or moral) planes.\n\nHe may be diseased upon any one or more of these planes. The true\nphysician must look for causes of disease and for methods of\ntreatment upon all three planes of being.\n\nThe purely materialistic physician concentrates all his study and\neffort upon the physical-material plane of being. To him, mental,\nspiritual, psychical, and moral phenomena are merely chemical and\nphysiological actions and reactions of brain and nerve substance. He\nhas nothing but contempt and derision for the man who believes in or\nknows of a spiritual body or a soul.\n\nHe is like an artist who says: \"My violin is all there is to music.\nThe musician's art consists in keeping his instrument in good\ncondition. Technique and the laws of harmony are a matter of\nimagination and of superstitious belief.\"\n\nOn the other hand, mental healers, Christian Scientists and faith\nhealers concentrate all their efforts upon either the mental or the\nsoul plane, frequently making no distinction between the two. In the\ntreatment of disease, they ignore the conditions and needs of the\nphysical body, and some of them even deny its existence.\n\nThese metaphysicians are like the artist who devotes all his time\nand energy to the study and practice of technique, counterpoint and\nharmony, neglecting his instrument and taking no heed whether its\nmechanism is out of order or its interior filled with rubbish. His\nknowledge of the laws of harmonics and his execution may be ever so\nperfect; but with his instrument out of tune and out of order he\nwill produce discords instead of harmony.\n\nThe true artist realizes that MIND, the player, must study SOUL, the\nharmonics; and that the mind must also have its instrument, the\nBODY, in perfect condition in order to interpret perfectly and\nartistically the harmonies of the symphony of life. Likewise, the\nNature Cure physician will look for causes of disease and for means\nof cure upon the material, mental and psychical planes of being.\n\nThus will higher civilization and greater knowledge lead back to the\nnatural simplicity of primitive races, where physician and priest\nare one.\n\nAfter all, physical health is the best possible basis for the\nattainment of mental, moral and spiritual health. All building\nbegins with the foundation. We do not first suspend the steeple in\nthe air and then build the church under it. So also, the building of\nthe temple of human character should begin by laying the foundation\nin physical health.\n\nWe have known people who had attained high intellectual, moral and\nspiritual development and then suffered utter shipwreck physically,\nmentally and in every other way, because ignorantly they had\nviolated the laws of their physical nature.\n\nThere are others who believe that the possession of occult knowledge\nand the achievement of mastership confer absolute control over\nNature's forces and phenomena on the physical plane. These people\nbelieve that a man is not a master if he does not miraculously heal\nall manner of disease and raise the dead.\n\nIf such things were possible, they would overthrow the Laws of Cause\nand Effect and of Compensation. They would abolish the basic\nprinciples of morality and constructive spirituality. If it is\npossible in one case to heal disease and to overcome death through\nthe fiat of the will of a master, then it must be possible in all\ncases. If so, then we can ignore the existence of Nature's laws,\nindulge our appetites and passions to the fullest extent, and when\nthe natural results of our transgressions overtake us, we can go to\na healer or master and have our diseases instantly and painlessly\nremoved, like a bad tooth.\n\nI say this with all due reverence for, and faith in, the efficacy of\ntrue prayer and with full knowledge of the healing power of\ntherapeutic faith, but I do not believe that God, or Nature, or a\nmaster or metaphysical formulas can or will make good in a\nmiraculous way for the inevitable results of our transgressions of\nthe natural laws that govern our being.\n\nIf such miraculous healing were possible and of common occurrence,\nwhat occasion would there be for the exercise of reason, will and\nself-control? What would become of the scientific basis of morality\nand constructive spirituality?\n\nAll this leads us to the following conclusions:\n\n\"If there is in operation a constructive principle of Nature on the\nethical, moral and spiritual planes of being, with which we must\nalign ourselves and to which we must conform our conscious and\nvoluntary activities in order to achieve self-completion,\nself-content, individual completion and happiness, then this\nconstructive principle must be in operation also in our physical\nbodies and in their corelated physical, mental and emotional\nactivities. If the constructive principle is active in the physical\nas well as in the moral and spiritual realms, then the established\nharmonic relationship of the physical to the constructive law of its\nbeing must constitute the morality of the physical; and from this it\nfollows that the achievement of health on the physical plane is as\nmuch under our conscious and voluntary control as the working out of\nour individual salvation on the higher planes of life.\"\n\nTo recapitulate:\n\nFirst, our well-being on all planes and in all relationships of life\ndepends upon the existence, recognition and practical application of\nthe great fundamental laws and principles just explained.\n\nSecond: Physical health, as well as moral health, is of our own\nmaking. We are personally responsible not only for our own physical\nand mental health, but we are also morally responsible for the\nhereditary tendencies of our offspring toward health or disease.\n\nThird: The attainment of physical health through compliance with\nNature's laws is just as much a part of the Great Work as our\nethical, moral and psychical development.\n\nThe Unity and Continuity of the Law\n\nThat which we call God, Nature, the Creator or the Universal\nIntelligence is the great central cause of all things and the\nvibratory activities produced by or proceeding from this central or\nprimary cause continue through all spheres of life, in like manner\nas the light waves of the sun, moon and fixed stars penetrate\nthrough the intervening spheres of life to our plane of earth.\nTherefore all powers, forces, laws and principles which manifest on\nour plane proceed and continue from the innermost Divine to the most\nexternal plane in physical nature. This explains the continuity,\nstability and correspondence on all planes of being of that which we\ncall Natural Law. In other words, \"Natural Law is the established\nharmonic relationship of effects and phenomena to their causes and\nof all particular causes to the one great primary cause of all\nthings.\"\n\n\n\nChapter XXXVIII\n\n\nMental Therapeutics\n\n\nThe new psychology and the science of mental and spiritual healing\nteach us that the lower principles in Man stand or should stand\nunder the dominion of the higher. The physical body, with its\nmaterial elements, is dominated and guided by the mind. The mind is\ninspired through the inner consciousness, which is an attribute of\nthe soul. The soul of man is in communion with the Oversoul, which\nis the Source of all life and all intelligence animating the\nuniverse.\n\nWherever this natural order is reversed, there is discord or\ndisease. Too many people think and act as though the physical body\nis all in all, as though it is the only thing worth caring for and\nthinking about. They exaggerate the importance of the physical and\nbecome its abject slaves.\n\nThe physical body is the lowest and least intelligent of the\ndifferent principles making up the human entity. Yet people allow\ntheir minds and their souls to become dominated and terrified by the\nsensations of the physical body.\n\nWhen the servants in the house control and terrify the master, when\nthe master becomes their slave and they can do with him as they\nplease, there cannot be order and harmony in that house.\n\nWe must expect the same results when the lower principles in Man\nlord it over the higher. When physical weakness, illness and pain\nfill the mind with fear and dismay, reason becomes clouded, the will\natrophied and self-control is lost.\n\nEvery thought and every emotion has its direct effect upon the\nphysical constituents of the body. The mental and emotional\nvibrations become physical vibrations and structures. Discord in the\nmind is translated into physical disease in the body, while the\nharmonies of hope, faith, cheerfulness, happiness, love and altruism\ncreate in the organism the corresponding health vibrations.\n\nHave you ever noticed how the written or printed notes of a tone\npiece or the perforations on the paper music roll of an automatic\nplayer are arranged in symmetrical and geometrical figures and\ngroups? Dry sand strewn on the top of a piano on which harmonious\ntone combinations are produced shows a tendency to arrange itself in\nsymmetrical patterns.\n\nIn this you have a visual illustration of the translation of\nharmonious sound vibrations, which express the harmonics of the\nsoul's emotions, into correspondingly harmonious arrangements and\nconfigurations in the physical material of the paper roll.\n\nA jumble of discords of sound, if reproduced on a music roll, would\npresent a chaotic jumble of perforations.\n\nThus the purely mental and emotional is translated into its\ncorresponding discords or harmonies in the physical.\n\nAs the perforations on the paper music roll arrange themselves\neither symmetrically or without symmetry and order, in strict\naccordance with the harmonies or discords of the composition, so the\natoms, molecules and cells in the physical body group themselves in\nnormal or abnormal structures of health or of disease in exact\ncorrespondence with the harmonious or the discordant vibrations\nconveyed to them from the mental and emotional planes.\n\nAnother Illustration: Two violins, as they leave the shop of the\nmaker, are exactly alike in material, structure and quality of tone.\nOne of the two instruments is constantly used by beginners and\npersons incapable of producing pure notes. The other passes into the\nhands of an artist who understands how to use the instrument to the\nbest advantage and who draws from it only musical tones that are\ntrue in pitch and quality.\n\nAfter a few years, compare the two violins again. You will find that\nthe one used by the tyros in music has deteriorated in its musical\nqualities, while the one in the hands of the artist has greatly\nimproved in quality and purity of tone. What is the reason? The\natoms and molecules in the wood of the two instruments have grouped\nthemselves according to the discords or the harmonies that have been\nproduced from them.\n\nIf this rearrangement of atoms is possible in dead wood, how much\neasier must be this adjustment of atoms, molecules and cells to\ndiscordant or harmonious vibratory influence in the living, plastic\nand fluidic human organism!\n\nWhat harmony is to music, hope, faith, cheerfulness, happiness,\nsympathy, love and altruism are to the vibratory conditions of the\nhuman entity. These emotions are in alignment with the constructive\nprinciple in Nature. They harmonize the physical vibrations, relax\nthe tissues and open them wide to the inflow of the life force.\n\nSwedenborg truly says: \"The warmth of life is the heat of the divine\nlove permeating and animating the universe.\" The more we possess of\nhope, faith, love and their kindred emotions, the more we open\nourselves to the inflow and action of the vital energies. The\ngood-natured, cheerful, sympathetic person is more alive than the\ncrabbed, morose or selfish individual.\n\nIt has been proved over and over again by everyday experience that\nmental and emotional conditions positively affect the chemical\ncomposition of the tissues and secretions of the body. The\ndestructive emotions of fear, worry, anger, jealousy,\nrevengefulness, envy, etc., actually poison the fluids and tissues\nof the body. The bite of an angry man may cause blood-poisoning and\nprove as fatal as the bite of a mad dog. Sudden fear, anger or any\nother destructive emotion in the nursing mother may cause illness or\neven death of the infant.\n\nIn psychological laboratories it has been found by scientifically\nconducted experiments that under the influence of destructive mental\nand emotional conditions, the secretions and excretions of the body\nshow an increase of morbid and poisonous elements.\n\nSelfishness, fear and worry contract and congeal the blood vessels,\nthe nerve fibers, and the other channels through which the life\nforces are conveyed from the innermost source of life to different\nparts and organs of the physical body. The flow of the life currents\nis impeded and diminished. Such are the actual physiological effects\nof fear, anxiety and egotism on the physical organism.\n\nA man under the influence of great fear and one exposed to freezing\npresent the same outward appearance. In both cases death may result\nthrough the congealing of the tissues and the shutting out of the\nlife currents. The person afflicted with the worry habit may not die\nsuddenly like the one overcome by great and sudden fear.\nNevertheless, the fear and worry vibrations maintained constantly\nwill surely obstruct and diminish the inflow of the life force,\nlower the vitality and therewith the resistance to the encroachment\nof influences inimical to the health of the organism.\n\nThe cells in the body are negative, or, at least, they should be\nnegative to the positive mind. The relationship of the mind to the\ncell should be like that of hypnotist to subject. If the mind could\nnot exert such absolute control over the cells and cell groups, it\nwould be impossible for us to walk, talk, write, dodge danger, etc.,\nwith almost automatic ease.\n\nThe cells are not able to reason upon the truth or untruth of the\nsuggestions conveyed to them from the mind. They accept its\npromptings unqualifiedly and act accordingly.\n\nThus, if the mind constantly thinks of, say, the stomach as being in\na badly diseased condition, unable to do its work properly, the\nmental images of weakness and disease with their accompanying fear\nvibrations are telegraphed over the efferent nerves to the cells of\nthe stomach and these become more and more weakened and diseased\nthrough the destructive vibrations sent to them from the mind.\n\nI often advise my patients to procure a book on anatomy and\nphysiology and to study and keep constantly before their mind's eye\nthe normal structure and functions of a healthy stomach or liver or\nwhatever organ may be involved in any particular case.\n\nPositive Affirmations\n\nThis explains why affirmations of health are justified in the face\nof disease. The health conditions must be first established in the\nmind before they can be conveyed to and impressed upon the cells.\n\nThe well-being of the human body as a whole depends upon the health\nof the billions of minute cells which compose it. These cells are so\nsmall that they have to be magnified several hundred times under a\npowerful microscope before we can see them. Yet they are independent\nliving beings which grow, assimilate food, multiply and die like the\nbig cell, Man.\n\nThese little cells are congregated in communities which form the\norgans and tissues of the body and in these communities they carry\non the complicated activities of citizens living in a large city.\nSome are carriers, bringing food materials to the tissues and organs\nor conveying waste and morbid matter to the excretory channels of\nthe body. Other cells manufacture chemical substances, such as\nsugar, fats, ferments, hormones etc., for the production of which\nman requires complicated factories. Still others act as policemen\nand soldiers which protect the commonwealth against bacteria,\nparasites and other hostile invaders.\n\nThe marvelous work performed by these little organisms, as well as\nobservations made in the dissecting room and under the microscope,\nstrongly indicate that these cells are endowed with some sort of\nindividual intelligence. They do their work without our aid or\nconscious volition. But, nevertheless, they are greatly influenced\nby the varying conditions of the mind. While their activities seem\nto be controlled through the sympathetic nervous system, they stand\nin direct telegraphic communication with headquarters in the brain\nand every impulse of the mind is conveyed to them.\n\nIf there be dismay and confusion in the mind, this condition is\ntelegraphically conveyed over the nerve trunks and filaments to\nevery cell in the body, and as a result these little workers and\nsoldiers become panic-stricken and incapable of rightly performing\ntheir manifold duties.\n\nThe cell system of the body resembles a vast army. The mind is the\ngeneral at the head of it. The cells are the soldiers, divided into\ngroups for special work.\n\nMuch of the work of an army is carried on through different\nwell-established departments, as the commissariat, the hospital\nservice, the scouts and pickets, etc. Though the life and the\nactivities of the army are so well regulated that they seem\nautomatic, nevertheless much depends upon the commander.\n\nThe vital processes of the human organism, digestion, assimilation,\nelimination, respiration, the circulation of the blood, etc., are\ngoing on without our volition, whether we be awake or asleep. These\ninvoluntary activities are impelled by the sympathetic nervous\nsystem, while the voluntary functions of the body are controlled\nthrough the motor [voluntary] nervous system. This division,\nhowever, is not a sharp one, and the two departments frequently\noverlap one another.\n\nThe sympathetic nervous system resembles the commissarial department\nof the army, which attends to the material welfare of the soldiers,\nwhile the motor nervous system, with headquarters in the brain,\ncorresponds to the commander with his executive staff, the nerve\ncenters in the spinal cord and other parts of the body being the\nsubordinate officers in the field.\n\nWhile the physical well-being of the army depends upon the almost\nautomatic work of its different departments, its mind and soul is\nthe man commanding it. He determines the spirit, the energy and the\nefficiency of the vast organization.\n\nIf the commander-in-chief lacks insight, force and determination,\nthe discipline of the army will be lax and its efficiency greatly\nimpaired. If he is a craven, without faith in himself and in the\ncause he represents, his lack of courage, his doubt and indecision\nwill communicate themselves to the whole army, resulting in\ndiscouragement and defeat.\n\nThe most successful commanders have been those who were possessed of\nabsolute confidence in themselves and in the efficiency of their\narmy, who in the face of gravest danger and discouraging situations\npressed on to the predetermined goal with dogged courage and\nresolution. Determination and pertinacity of this kind create the\nmagnetic power which imparts itself to every individual soldier in\nthe army and makes him a willing subject, even unto death, to the\nwill of his commander.\n\nWhen the plague was invading Napoleon's army, that great general\nentered the hospitals where the victims of the plague were lying,\ntook them by the hand and conversed with them. He did this to\novercome the fear in the hearts of his soldiers, and thus to protect\nthem against the dread disease. He said: \"A man whose will can\nconquer the world, can conquer the plague.\"\n\nTo my mind, this was one of the greatest deeds of the Corsican. At a\ntime when \"New Thought\" was practically unknown, the genius of this\nman had grasped its principles and was making them factors in his\napparent success. \"Apparent\" because, while we admire his genius, we\ndeplore the ends to which he applied his wonderful powers.\n\nAt times when the battle seemed lost, Napoleon would go to the front\nwhere the danger was greatest; and by the mere sight of him the\nhard-pressed soldiers under his command were inspired to super-human\neffort and final victory.\n\nAs long as the glamour of invincibility surrounded him, Napoleon was\ninvincible, because he infused into his soldiers a faith and courage\nwhich nothing could withstand. But when the cunning of the Russian\nbroke his power and decimated his ranks on the ice-bound steppes,\nthe hypnotic spell was broken also. Friends and enemies alike\nrecognized that, after all, he was but a man, subject to chance and\ncircumstance; and from that time on he was vulnerable and suffered\ndefeat after defeat.\n\nThe power of the mind over the physical body and its involuntary\nfunctions (the functions which are regulated and controlled through\nthe sympathetic nervous system) may be illustrated by the\ndemonstrated facts of hypnotism. Through the exertion of his own\nimagination and his will-power, the hypnotist can so dominate the\nbrain and through the brain the physical body of his subject, as to\ninfluence not only the sensory functions, but also heart action and\nrespiration. By the power of his will the hypnotist is able to\nretard or accelerate pulse and respiration, and even to subdue the\nheart beat so that it becomes hardly perceptible.\n\nIf it is possible thus to control by the power of will the vital\nfunctions in the body of another person, it must be possible also to\ncontrol these functions in our own bodies. Many a Hindu fakir and\nyogi have developed this power of the mind over the physical body to\na marvelous extent.\n\nHere lies the true domain of mental therapeutics. We can learn to\ndominate and regulate the vital activities and the life currents in\nour bodies so that they will do their work intelligently and\nserenely even under the stress of illness or of danger. We can, by\nthe power of will, direct the vital currents to those parts and\norgans which need them most and we can relieve congested areas by\nequalizing the circulation, by drawing from the surplus of blood and\nnerve currents and distributing the vital fluids over other parts of\nthe body.\n\nWe must be careful, however, to use our higher powers in conformity\nwith Nature's intent; that is, we must not endeavor to suppress\nNature's cleansing and healing efforts. It is possible to do this by\nthe power of will as well as with ice bags and drugs.\n\nMentally and emotionally, as well as physically, we must work with\nNature, not against her. When we understand the fundamental laws of\ndisease and cure, we cannot well do otherwise.\n\n\nChapter XXXIX\n\n\nHOW SHALL WE PRAY?\n\n\nShall we say: \"Father, give me this Father, do for me that!\"? Or\nshall we say: \"Behold, I am perfect! Imperfection, sin and suffering\nare only errors of mortal mind!\"?\n\nOr shall we pray: \"Father, give me of Thy strength that I may live\nin harmony with Thy law, for thus only will all good come to me!\"?\n\nThe first way is to beg, the second, to steal, the third, to earn by\nhonest effort.\n\n\"Father, give me this!\"--\"Father do for me that!\" Thus prayed our\nfathers, not understanding the great law of compensation, the law of\ngiving and receiving, which demands that we give an equivalent for\neverything we receive. To receive without giving is to beg.\n\nThe lily, in return for the nourishment it receives from the soil\nand the sun, gives its beauty and fragrance. The birds of the air\ngive a return for their sustenance by their songs, their beauty of\nplumage, and by destroying worms and insects, the enemies of plants\nand men. Every living thing gives an equivalent for its existence in\nsome way or other.\n\nWith Man, the fulfillment of the law of service and of compensation\nbecomes conscious and voluntary, and his self-respect refuses to\ntake without giving.\n\n\"Behold, I am perfect! Imperfection, sin, and suffering are only\nerrors of mortal mind!\" Such is the prayer of certain metaphysical\nhealers.\n\nTo assume the possession of goodness and perfection without an\nearnest effort to develop and to deserve these qualities, means to\nsteal the glory of the only Perfect One. The assumption of present\nperfection precludes the necessity of striving and laboring for its\nattainment. If I am already all goodness, all love, all wisdom, and\nall power, what remains for me to strive for?\n\nHerein lies the danger of metaphysical idealism. While it may dispel\npessimism, fear, and anxiety, it inevitably weakens the will power\nand the capacity for self-help and personal effort.\n\nThe ideal of the metaphysician is the ideal of the animal. The\nanimal does not worry about right or wrong, nor, with few\nexceptions, does it make provision for the future. Its care and\nforethought extend only to the next meal. But this perfect, ideal,\npassive trust in Nature's bounty causes the animal to remain animal\nand prevents its rising above the narrow limitations of habit and\ninstinct.\n\nThe inherent faculties, capacities, and powers of the human soul can\nbe developed only by effort and use. The savage, living in the most\nfavored regions of the earth, depending for his sustenance in\nperfect faith and trust on Nature's never-failing bounty, has\nremained savage. Through ages he has risen but little above the\nlevel of the beasts that perish.\n\nThe great law of use ordains that those faculties and powers which\nwe do not develop remain in abeyance, and that those which we\npossess weaken and atrophy if we fail to exercise them.\n\nThe Master, Jesus, emphasized this law of use in many of his\nparables and sayings.\n\n\"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more\nabundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even\nthat he hath.\"\n\nWhat does this mean? Those who have the desire and the will to work\nout their own salvation, acquire greater knowledge and power in\nexact proportion to their well-directed efforts; but those who have\nneither the desire nor the will to help themselves, lose their\nnatural endowments and the possibilities and opportunities which\nthese would have conferred upon them.\n\nThe anatomy and physiology of the human brain reveal the fact that\nfor every voluntary faculty, capacity, and power of body, mind, and\nsoul which we wish to develop, we have to create new cells and\ncenters in the brain. In this respect, Nature gives us no more and\nno less than we deserve and work for. If we \"try to cheat\" by\nusurping the perfection and the power which we have not honestly\nearned and developed, then sometime, somewhere we shall have to\n\"square the balance.\"\n\nThe Right Way to Pray\n\nAfter all, the only true prayer is personal effort and self-help.\nThis does not mean that we should not invoke the help of the Higher\nPowers, of those who have gone before us, of the Great Friends and\nInvisible Helpers, and of the Great Father, the giver of all life,\nall wisdom, and all power. But we should pray for strength to do our\nwork, not to have it done for us. The wise parent will not do for\nthe child the home tasks assigned him at school. Neither will the\npowers on high or the Great Friends perform our allotted tasks for\nus.\n\nThis life is a school for personal effort. If it were not so, life\nwould be meaningless. From the cradle to the grave, our days are\none continuous effort to learn, to acquire, to overcome difficulties.\nOnly in this way can we develop our latent faculties, capacities,\nand powers. These cannot be developed by having our tasks done\nfor us, nor by assuming that we already know and possess everything.\n\nThe athlete must do his own training. No one else can do it for him.\nThe assumption of superiority over his opponent will riot develop\nhis suppleness of body and strength of muscle. To be sure, faith and\ncourage are essential to--victory, but they must be backed by\ncareful and persistent training. Vainglorious boasting alone will\nnot win the contest.\n\nSo in the battle of life, the more faith we have in God, in the\nGreat Friends, and in our own powers, the wider do we open ourselves\nto the inflow of wisdom and strength from all that is good and true\nand powerful in the universe. But through persistent and\nwelldirected effort alone can we control the powers and fashion the\nmaterials which Nature has so lavishly bestowed upon us.\n\nThe creative will, actuated by desire and enlightened by reason,\nbrings order and harmony out of chaotic forces and materials. And\nyet certain metaphysicians tell us that we ourselves must do nothing\nto overcome weakness, sin, and suffering, that we must depend\nentirely upon the efficiency of metaphysical formulas, that the\ndeity and the powers of Nature are jealous of our personal efforts,\nthat we must not try to help ourselves lest we forfeit their good\nwill.\n\nIs it not blasphemous to assume that God would blame us and withhold\nhis aid because we dared to use the faculties, capacities, and\npowers with which he has endowed us? You say, \"Nobody is foolish\nenough to claim such things.\" But this is the teaching of a powerful\nhealing-cult. Its members are forbidden, on penalty of expulsion, to\nuse in the treatment of human ailments the most innocent natural\nremedies. The giving of an enema, or the common-sense regulation of\ndiet are regarded as sufficient to nullify the power of their\nmetaphysical formulas and to prevent the working of Nature's healing\nforces.\n\nOne of our patients who had been under such treatment until she was\nin a dying condition, told us afterwards that her bowels often did\nnot move for a week, and that, when she complained to her \"healer\"\nabout this condition and asked permission to take an enema, he\nanswered her: \"Pay no attention. The Lord is taking care of that in\nsome other way.\"\n\nThe man who said this had been a prominent allopathic physician\nbefore he turned \"healer.\" He, too, like so many others ignorant of\nNature's simple laws, had swung from one extreme to the other, from\nallopathic overdoing to metaphysical underdoing. In this instance,\nthe Lord \"took care\" of the patient's bowels until she was taken\ndown with a severe attack of appendicitis and peritonitis.\n\nAmidst all the extremes, Nature Cure points the common-sense middle\nway. Basing its teachings and its practices on a clear understanding\nof the laws of health, disease, and cure, it refrains from\nsuppressing acute diseases with poisonous drugs or the knife,\nrealizing that they are in reality Nature's cleansing and healing\nefforts. Neither does it sit idly by and expect the Lord, or\nmetaphysical formulas, or the medicine bottle and the knife, to do\nour work and to make good for our violations of Nature's laws.\n\nUnderstanding the Law, Nature Cure believes in cooperating with the\nlaw; in giving the Lord a helping hand. It teaches that \"God helps\nhim who helps himself,\" that He will not become angry and refuse His\nhelp if His children use rightly the reason, the willpower, and the\nself-control with which he has endowed them, so that they may\nachieve their own salvation.\n\nNature Cure from beginning to end is one grand, true prayer. It\nteaches The Law on all planes of being, the physical, the mental,\nthe moral, and the spiritual; and it insists that the only way to\nattain perfect health of body, mind, and soul is to comply with the\nlaw to the best of our ability. When we do that, we place ourselves\nin allgnment with the constructive principle in Nature, and in exact\nproportion to our intelligent and voluntary co-operation with the\nlaws of our being, all good things will come to us.\n\nTherefore we pray: \"Father, give me of Thy strength that I may live\nin harmony with Thy law, for thus only will all good come to me.\"\n\n\n\nChapter XL\n\n\nScientific Relaxation and Normal Suggestion\n\n\nUnder the strain of work-a-day hurry and worry, your nerve\nvibrations are apt to become more and more intense and excited. They\nrun away with you until, as the saying goes, \"you are flying all to\npieces.\"\n\nA good illustration of this condition of the nervous system may be\nfound in a team of horses shying at some object in their path. The\ndriver, panic-stricken, has dropped the reins, the frightened horses\nhave taken the bits between their teeth and are dashing headlong\ndown the road, until their master regains control, checks the\nanimals in their maddened course, and compels them to resume their\nordinary pace.\n\nSo the high-strung, oversensitive individual must gain control over\nhis nervous system and must subdue his runaway mental and emotional\nactivities into restful, harmonious vibrations.\n\nThis is done by insuring sufficient rest and sleep under the right\nconditions and by practicing scientific relaxation at all times.\n\nThe \"nervous\" person gets easily excited. Comparatively little\nthings will cause an outbreak of intense irritation or emotional\nhyperactivity.\n\nUsually, the victim of unbalanced nerves is of the high-strung,\nsensitive type, naturally inclining to more rapid vibrations on all\nplanes, capable of greater achievement than the stolid, heavy,\nslow-vibrating person who doesn't know that he has any nerves, but\nhe is also in greater danger of mental and emotional overstrain and\nphysical depletion as a result of the excessive and uncontrolled\nexpenditure of life force and nervous energy.\n\nRelaxation while Working\n\nAt first glance this expression may seem paradoxical, but experience\nwill teach that it is not only possible, but absolutely necessary\nthat we perform our work in a relaxed and serene condition of body\nand mind. The most strenuous physical or mental labor will then not\ncause as much exhaustion as light work done in a state of nervous\ntension, irritability, fretfulness or worry.\n\nRelaxation while working necessitates planning and system. Most\nnervous breakdowns result not so much from overwork as from the\nvitality wasted through lack of orderly procedure. Therefore, take\nsome time to plan and arrange your work and form the habit of doing\ncertain things that have to be done every day as nearly as possible\nin the same way (making sure that it is the right way) and at the\nsame time of the day. Such orderly system will soon become habitual\nand result in saving much valuable time and energy.\n\nAlways cultivate a serene and cheerful attitude of mind and soul,\ntaking whatever comes as part of the day's work, doing your best\nunder the circumstances, but absolutely refusing to worry and fret\nabout anything. Do not cross a bridge before you get to it, and do\nnot waste time regretting something that cannot be undone.\n\nRelaxation while Sitting\n\nSit upright in a comfortable chair without strain or tension, spine\nand head erect, the legs forming right angles with the thighs (the\nchair should be neither too high nor too low), feet resting firmly\nupon the floor, toes pointing slightly outward, the forearms resting\nlightly upon the legs with the hands upon the knees. This must be\naccomplished without effort, for effort means tension.\n\nDismiss all thoughts of hurry, care, worry or fear and dwell upon\nthe following thoughts:\n\n\"I am now completely relaxed in body and mind. I am receptive to\nNature's harmonious and invigorating vibrations--they dispel the\ndiscordant and destructive vibrations of hurry, worry, fear and\nanger. New life, new health, new strength are entering into me with\nevery breath, pervading my whole being.\"\n\nRepeat these thoughts mentally, or, if it helps you, say them aloud\nseveral times, quietly and forcefully, impressing them deeply upon\nyour inner consciousness.\n\nAfter practicing relaxation in this manner, lie down for a few\nminutes' rest--if circumstances permit--or practice rhythmical\nbreathing (see Chapter Twenty-Eight). Then return to your work and\nendeavor to maintain a calm, trustful, controlled attitude of mind.\n\nIf you are inclined to be irritable, suspicious, jealous,\nfault-finding, envious, etc., dwell on the following thought\npictures:\n\n\"I am now fully relaxed, at rest and at peace. The world is an echo.\nIf I send forth irritable, suspicious, hateful thought vibrations,\nthe like will return to me from other minds. I shall think such\nthoughts no longer. God is love, love is harmony, happiness, heaven.\nThe more I send forth Love, the more I am like God; the more of love\nwill God and men return to me; the more shall I realize true\nhappiness, true health, true strength and true success.\"\n\nRelaxation Before Going to Sleep\n\nWhen ready to go to sleep, lie flat on your back, so that as nearly\nas possible every part of the spine touches the bed, extend the arms\nalong the sides of the body, hands turned upward, palms open, every\nmuscle relaxed. Dismiss all thoughts of work, annoyance or anxiety.\nSay to yourself: \"I am now going to sleep soundly and peacefully. I\nam master of my body, my mind and my soul. Nothing evil shall\ndisturb me. At .... A. M., neither earlier nor later, I shall awaken\nrested and refreshed, strong in body and mind. I shall meet\ntomorrow's tasks and duties promptly and serenely.\"\n\nSimple as this formula may seem, it has helped cure many a case of\npersistent insomnia and nervous prostration. Having thus set your\nmental alarm clock, with a few times, practice you will be able to\nwake up, without being called, at the appointed time and to\ndemonstrate to yourself the power of your mind over your body.\n\nThe quality of your sleep and its effect upon your system depend on\nthe character of the mental and psychic vibrations carried into it.\nIf you harbor thoughts of passion, worry or fear, these destructive\nthought vibrations will disturb your slumbers and you will awaken in\nthe morning weak and tired. If, however, you repeat mentally a\nformula such as the above, suggesting harmonious, constructive\nthoughts, until you lose consciousness, you will carry into your\nslumbers vibrations of rest, health and strength, producing\ncorresponding effects upon the physical organism.\n\nAfter a perfectly relaxed condition of body and mind has been\nattained, it is not necessary to remain lying on the back. Any\nposition of the body may then be assumed which seems most restful.\n\nMy patients frequently ask what position of the body is best during\nsleep. It is not good to lie continuously in any one position. This\ntends to cause unsymmetrical development of the different parts of\nthe body and to affect unfavorably the functions of various organs.\nIt is best to change occasionally from one position to another, as\nbodily comfort seems to indicate and require.\n\nMany persons fret and worry if sleep does not come as quickly as\ndesired. They picture to themselves in darkest colors the dire\nresults of wakefulness. Such a state of mind makes sleep impossible.\nIf persisted in, it will inevitably lead to chronic insomnia.\n\nInstead of indulging in hurtful worry, say to yourself: \"I do not\ncare whether I sleep or not! Though I do not sleep, I am lying here\nperfectly relaxed, at rest and at peace. I am strengthened and\nrested by remaining in a state of peaceful relaxation.\"\n\nHowever, the \"I do not care\" must be actually meant and felt, must\nnot be merely a mechanical repetition of words.\n\nNothing is more conducive to sleep, even under the most trying\ncircumstances, than such an \"I-don't-care\" attitude of mind. Try it,\nand the chances are that just because you do not care, you will fall\nfast asleep.\n\n\n\nChapter XLI\n\n\nConclusion\n\n\nOur critics say: \"If Nature Cure is all that you claim for it, why\nis it not more generally accepted by the medical profession and the\npublic?\"\n\nThe greatest drawback to spreading the Nature Cure idea is the\nnecessity of self-control which it imposes. If our cures of\nso-called incurable diseases could be made without asking the\npatients to change their habits of living, without the demand of\neffort on their own part, Nature Cure sanitariums could not be built\nfast enough in this country.\n\nNo matter how marvelous the results of the natural methods--when\ninvestigators learn that the treatment necessitates the control of\nindiscriminate appetite and self-indulgence and the persistent\npractice of natural living and all that this involves, they exclaim:\n\"The natural regimen may be all right, but who can live up to it?\nYou are asking the impossible. You are looking for a perfection\nwhich does not exist. Your directions call for an amount of\nwillpower and self-control which nobody possesses.\"\n\nFortunately, however, this is not true. Human nature is good enough\nand strong enough to comply with Nature's laws. Furthermore, the\nnatural ways must be the most pleasant in the end or Nature is a\nfraud and a cheat. True enjoyment of life and happiness are\nimpossible without perfect physical, mental and moral health and\nthese depend upon natural living and natural treatment of human\nailments.\n\nStrengthening of Will-Power and Self-Control\n\nIf I were asked the question: \"What do you consider the greatest\nbenefit to be derived from the Nature Cure regimen?\" I should\nanswer: \"The strengthening of willpower and self-control.\"\n\nThis is the very purpose of life. Upon it depends all further\nachievement. Self-control is the master's key to all higher\ndevelopment on the mental, moral and spiritual planes of being; but\nbefore we can exercise it on the higher planes, we must have learned\nto apply it on the lower plane, in the management and control of our\nphysical appetites and habits. When we have learned to control\nthese, higher development will come easy.\n\nA good method for strengthening the willpower is autosuggestion. The\nmost opportune moments in the twenty-four hours of the day for\npracticing this mental magic are those before dropping to sleep. At\nthis time there is the least disturbance and interference from\noutside influences, the mind is most passive and susceptible to\nsuggestion and impressions made under these favorable conditions\nupon the \"phonograph records\" of the subconscious mind are the most\nlasting and the most powerful to control physical, mental and moral\nactivities.\n\nWhen thoroughly relaxed, at rest and at peace, say to yourself:\n\"Whatever duties confront me tomorrow, I shall execute them\npromptly, without wavering or hesitation. I shall not give in to\nthis bad habit which has been controlling me. I shall do that only\nof which reason and conscience approve.\"\n\nIn order to be more specific and systematic and to obtain results\nmore surely and quickly, concentrate upon one weakness at a time.\nWhen that has been overcome, take up another one, until in this way\nyou have attained perfect control over your thoughts, feelings and\nactions.\n\nSuppose you have acquired the habit of remaining in bed and dozing\nafter your mental alarm clock has given its signal to arise and you\ndread the effort of going through your morning exercises and\nablutions. Then, the night before, impress upon the subconscious\nmind deeply and firmly the following suggestions: \"Tomorrow morning,\non awakening, I shall jump out of bed without hesitation and go\nthrough my morning exercises with zest and vigor.\"\n\nOr, suppose you are subject to the fear and worry habit. Say to\nyourself: \"Tomorrow or any time thereafter when depressing, gloomy\nthoughts threaten to control me, I shall overcome them with thoughts\nof hope and faith, and with absolute confidence in the Divine power\nof the will within me to overcome and to achieve.\"\n\nIn this manner you may give the subconscious mind suggestions and\nimpressions for overcoming bad habits and for establishing and\nstrengthening good habits.\n\nIf a serious problem is confronting you, and you are unable to solve\nit to your satisfaction, think upon it just before you are dropping\noff to sleep and confidently demand that the right solution come to\nyou during the hours of rest. The inner consciousness is always\nawake. It is the watchman who awakens you at the appointed time in\nthe morning. It will work upon your problem while your physical\nbrain is asleep. In this lies the psychological justification for\nthe popular phrase: \"Before I decide the matter I'll sleep over it.\"\n\nIn the practice of mental magic, as in everything else, success\ndepends upon patience and perseverance. It would be entirely useless\nto go through these mental drills occasionally and in a desultory\nfashion; but if persisted in faithfully and intelligently, they will\nprove truly magical in their effects upon the development of\nwillpower and self-control, and on these depend the mastery of\nconditions within and without, the conquest of fate and destiny.\nPAIN'S SOLILOQUY\n\nBy C. J. Buell, President Minnesota Health League\n\nI\n\nI am Pain--most people hate me,\n\nThink me cruel, call me heartless,\n\nStudy ways to bribe and fool me,\n\nTry by every means to slay me,\n\nDope themselves with anaesthetics,\n\nFill themselves with patent nostrums,\n\nCall the doctor with his poisons,\n\nSeek the Christian Science healer,\n\nBeat the tom-tom of the savage,\n\nBuild the altar, burn the incense,\n\nSeek to sate the wrath of devils,\n\nPray to saints, and Gods, and angels;\n\nNot to cure the ills within them,\n\nNot to cleanse and purify them,\n\nJust to calm the pain that hurts them,\n\nJust to-kill the guide that warns them.\n\nII\n\nPain am I, but when you know me,\n\nWhen you once have learned my secret,\n\nHow I come to help and bless you,\n\nWarn you, guide you, teach and lead you\n\nWhen you know my loving nature,\n\nHow at first I gently twinge you,\n\nLightly twinge you as a warning,\n\nHoping thus, by kind reminder,\n\nYou will bear my voice and listen--\n\nSure am I that when you know me,\n\nYou will gladly then embrace me,\n\nCall me friend and give me welcome,\n\nCall me friend and ask my message.\n\nIII\n\nThis the message I would bring you,\n\nThis the reason for my visits,\n\nThis the warning I would give you,\n\nThis the secret I would teach you:\n\nWhen you learn to live as Nature\n\nIn her great and boundless mercy,\n\nIn her tender, loving kindness,\n\nIn her wisdom and her goodness\n\nMeant that men should live and labor,\n\nWhen you learn to shun the by-ways\n\nLeading off to vicious habits,\n\nWhen you learn to keep your body\n\nStrong and clean and pure and active,\n\nGive it work in right proportion,\n\nGive it air, and food, and water,\n\nFit to build its every member,\n\nFit to nourish every function,\n\nWhen you teach your mind and spirit\n\nPure and noble thoughts to harbor,\n\nDrive out fear, and hate, and malice,\n\nCherish love and kindly motive,\n\nWhen you learn these things I've told you,\n\n~When you know them, when you do them,\n\n~Then I will depart and leave you,\n\nThen no more will Pain be needed.\n\nIV\n\nThis is, then, the truth I bring you,\n\nThat I hurt you but to warn you,\n\nNot to harm you but to heal you,\n\nThat I come to guide and teach you.\n\nI am God's most blessed angel,\n\nSent to point the way to virtue,\n\nSent to teach the noblest manhood,\n\nSent to fill the mind with wisdom,\n\nSent to rouse the soul to action.\n\nV\n\nLove me, trust me, heed my message;\n\nI will bring you peace and bless you!","title":"Nature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & Cure","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":106686}