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Neuropathy Illustrated
The Philosophy and Practical Application of Drugless Healing
Andrew P. Davis, M.D., N.D., D.O., D.C., OPH.D.
1915   

COLONIC IRRIGATION

 

There is nothing which serves to relieve the condition called "impaction," like the internal bath. It removes the accumulation of refuse, permits normal action of the colon, prevents undue pressure upon blood vessels, nerves and lymphatics, allows normal peristalsis of all of the intestines, thereby permitting normal secretion and elimination to take place.

Accumulation of the waste material of the body - from food not taken up - and the deposition of the refuse in the colon, causes pressure upon the pancreas, and the pancreas presses against the stomach, interfering with its function, the stomach presses against the diaphragm, limits the capacity of the chest walls, thus crowding the lungs and heart, making a combination of disturbances which involve the functioning of all of the principal organs of the internal viscera, and becomes the direct cause of a multiplicity of conditions which produce inharmony in the various organs involved, and causes disease, not only in the organs directly involved in the pressure, but in all of the organs connected with them.

The toxic poison resulting from the decomposition of the feces in the colon, increases the distention, hence increases the pressure on the organs named, and increases the intensity of the consequences.

It matters very much, in all conditions called disease, that the colon be one of the first to receive attention, to see that it is cleansed of its contents, then the toxic influence is lessened, the way is opened for normal action, normal secretion and normal function of all of the organs of the chest and abdominal viscera.

Constipation, proctitis, colitis, appendicitis, torpid liver, enlarged spleen, indigestion, lung and heart affections, are frequently caused by the accumulation of gas in the colon; the gas is due to the excessive accumulation and its too long retention in the colon.

The high enema, then becomes a prominent factor in the treatment of every condition, whether acute or chronic, and should ALWAYS receive due attention from the practitioner. This should receive due consideration from day to day; see that it be not neglected.

What Colonic Pressure Influences.

It Produces appendicitis, impairs and seriously interferes with digestion.

It interferes with the circulation of all of the abdominal viscera.

It causes difficulty of breathing; the normal action of the heart and lungs.

It interferes with the pancreas and other secreting organs; causes indigestion, constipation, piles, kidney and bladder troubles; causes toxic poisons to accumulate in every tissue in the body, and is a great factor in all conditions called disease. It causes sluggishness of the entire body, stupidity of the mental functions, forgetfulness, loss of memory, brain-fag, and every condition resulting from impediment to the circulation of the venous blood and the lymph.

Pressure beyond the normal execution of the functions of the body, upon the fluid-carrying vessels, extends to the nerve filaments, and prevents them from performing their functions; hence inharinony reigns throughout the body. Health cannot be maintained unless every faculty and organ is performing its normal function.

If the food is not digested, exhaustion ensues. Digestion cannot take place when the fluids of the body are not permitted to flow naturally through the glands, which manufacture the fluids which digest the food. Food cannot maintain normal conditions unless it is digested, assimilated, and appropriated in the renewal of blood or worn out tissue, supplying the normal elements at all times, in every tissue and organ in the entire body.

Normal breathing cannot take place when pressure is unduly made on organs which control the breathing apparatus - the lungs, the chest muscles, diaphragm, etc.. That accumulated fluids result from impeded venous circulation is apparent to those who think, and know anything about the human organism.

The most common obstruction to the circulation of the blood, and nerve function, is found in the colon, caused by impaction of feces - the refuse from the food eaten, the undischarged and undigested refuse - which is always due to failure to observe the normal calls of nature for that purpose.

That accumulation oftentimes fills the cecum – the ascending colon - which not only expands the cecum to its unnatural capacity, causing venous congestion, nerve pressure as well, interfering with their function, but extends to the appendix vermiformis, causing inflammation of it. The pressure extends to the liver, causing undue, and abnormal interference with its functions, resulting in many disorders thereof, also extends to the transverse, colon, filling it and causing undue pressure on the pancreas, interfering with its function - that of secreting the juices which exercise an important influence in the digestion of fats - and the extension of the pressure on that organ passes to the stomach, then upon the diaphragm, thence to the lungs, thence to the heart, and in this manner the entire physical organism is disturbed.


ORIFICIAL SURGERY

Under this head will be considered simply that part of the subject which pertains to the use of the Bivalve, an instrument which is used to divulse the sphincter ani muscles.

The Bivalve is the discovery of Dr. E. H. Pratt, and has, for over twenty years, been used with gratifying results, having saved the lives of thousands, and brought relief where other means employed utterly failed.

Its favor, for certain conditions, grows with its use, and its sphere of usefulness cannot be measured, for it occupies a place, as a means of relief, in many conditions unsurpassed by other means employed.

In overcoming undue contracture of sphincter muscles is where it serves such an admirable purpose, taking off the pressure from blood vessels and the terminal sympathetic nerve filaments, restoring capillary circulation throughout the body at once, by which cases of suspended animation are restored, and death averted when it seemed inevitable.

Some of the most astonishing results have followed the use of the Bivalve; in all cases of difficult breathing, as in asthma, hysteria, restlessness, paralysis, irritability, neurasthenia, anemia from deficient capillary circulation, despondency, hyperesthesia, ungovernable temper in children or maniacs, inebriety, constipation, epilepsy, mental depression, from sluggish circulation.

The use of the Bivalve, to dilate the sphincter ani muscles, taking off the pressure from the terminal filaments of the sympathetic nervous system, should be considered in the treatment of all conditions where indicated, as of the first importance, because of its certain, immediate, satisfactory results.

How to Use the Bivalve.

Patient may lie on the left side, knees drawn up - the most suitable position. The Bivalve is introduced (valves closed), pointing in the direction of the patient's navel, passing it up to the shoulder of the instrument; hold it there, then turn the screw so as to spread the blades of the instrument about a quarter of an inch. (Leave the blades thus, during the entire seance, so that no pinching of the mucous membrane need occur by the blades closing.) In this position, the operator is ready to divulse the bowel. Begin by gently squeezing the handles of the instrument, spreading the blades a little, then let them return to the place started from, rest a moment, then spread the blades again a little farther, thus increasing the divulsion as much as the patient is willing to bear for the one seance, then remove the instrument. This finishes the one seance. Repeat daily, or as often as indicated. A little experience will familiarize the operator with its use and effects in the different conditions, when and where needed.

In the treatment of children, the mother may use the finger as a dilator, introducing it into the rectum far enough to get the second joint beyond the internal muscle, and pulling backwards and outwards to the side of the coccyx (tail-bone end of the spinal column). There need be no fear of injury in treating a patient thus. Treat cases according to age and condition.

Use either finger, according to the age and condition of the anus. Some cases will be found very tight and small, when the smallest finger will be necessary to use to gain entrance into the orifice. The latter condition is one in which dilation is the more important, and should, by all means, be done, and continued from day to day until a normal condition ensues.

Little children, even a day old, may need such treatment, and these treatments repeated daily for months, to insure a normal stool, to relieve nervous troubles, such as a tendency to rickets, stubbornness, holding the breath, etc.

There are so many conditions where this treatment will be beneficial that one can scarcely go amiss, especially where there is found a tightened sphincter, that it would be well to examine every case of acute or chronic derangement, more especially when the bowels are constipated, or pains in the colon, appendicitis or proctitis, as this is one of the best means known to take off the pressure from the nerves of the entire spinal cord, more especially the ganglion of Impar, which is the terminal ganglion of the cord.

It relieves the condition called piles, becomes a factor in straightening coccygeal deviations, and their maintenance in a normal position.

The normal condition of the sphincter ani muscles inhere in all healthy people; when not in that state, disease, somewhere, is certain to prevail.

The condition of the sphincter muscles is an index to the condition of all of the muscular system throughout the body, and all kinds of treatment is more or less influenced by the conditions found in this outlet of the body.


HUMAN ELECTRICITY

Scientific Basis of Life.

"There is no achievement one could make equal to perfect health." - Thomas Carlyle.


THE FUEL SUPPLY.

Seven Fundamental and Inseparable Essentials of Life and Health.

We shall now take up digestion, the first essential of life and health, and merely touch upon certain others, as they bear upon that process.

We realize that the power in the human body is electricity, and it has been shown that sufficient electric energy constantly produced means the maintenance of perfect health and the restoring of lost or depleted health.

We want to know how each individual may intelligently increase and control the supply of this power, and thereby have always within himself a scientific cure for disease, mental weakness and depression.

Seven Principles.

First - Proper breathing.
Second - Digestion.
Third - Exercise.
Fourth - An abundance of water.
Fifth - Thorough elimination.
Sixth - Relaxation or sleep.
Seventh - Mental power to control and direct the body in rebuilding it.

These seven principles are elaborated further on in the illustration.

Digestion the Only Reliable Source of Vitality.

There are two forces, but one energy, throughout the whole system or universe. The disintegration of material substance is what takes place in the digestion of foods; we immediately come into possession of this same energy, which is stored in the food substance, holding together the molecules and atoms which have been liberated through a process of friction, or chemical change, which we technically term digestion.

Chemical change is the process through which atoms are separated, and through which they are united. Every chemical change liberates electricity. Health means the generation of, and the circulation of, electrical energy.

Elimination and Cell Activity.

This occupies the most important place in the physical economy. All of the eliminating organs should be looked after, at all times.

The supply must be equal to the waste, and should be utilized. Many diseases are due to an accumulation of waste matter.

Disease is generated because of a weakened condition, caused by accumulation of waste material in the body.

When the waste matter cannot be, or is not, eliminated, any disease may ensue. There are many ways by which accumulation is formed in the body: The remains of food, undigested, and by friction, burning up the tissues, and impediments due to nerve supply and blood stasis.

Energy is used in the burning of the structures of the body, by coming together of the acids and the alkalies, causing chemical changes or neutralization.

Elimination is the very foundation of normal health (after the body reaches maturity). The solid matter taken into the system must be daily eliminated.

If the food is not assimilated, it is because the waste is not eliminated. Elimination, to be perfect, must begin in the lymphatics, lungs, kidneys and skin. Carbonic acid is removed by the lungs, mostly. Urea is the real ash of the system, and the waste matter.

We can control elimination from the bowels and kidneys, by regular habits.

Cell elimination is accomplished by and through the alkalinity of the blood.

Acids and alkalies have the strongest affinity for each other. The continual union of acids and alkalies produce the eliminating power of the body. If the blood is kept in, a highly alkaline state, containing salts, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, etc., the poisonous acids, carbonic, uric and various others are not allowed to accumulate.

Disease and old age are the result of lowering the body's vital energy, and the cause is the lack of elimination. Keep the blood in a highly alkaline condition and you need not fear sickness.

The alkaline state of the blood has a fourfold use: Nourishment of the tissues, the circulation of oxygen, the elimination of waste matter, and the electrocution of the micro-organism, or bacteria.

To maintain the normal alkalinity of the blood, supply the body with an abundance of the right kind of fresh foods in their natural state, those which are rich in the positive alkaline salts - sodium, magnesium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, etc.

Oxygenation Essential to Combustion.

Oxygen is essential to digestion, to changing venous to arterial blood. Oxygenated blood is essential to health. The blood must be continually renewed by contact with oxygen, produced by breathing and circulation.

Breathing is a natural act, and can be modified or accelerated. The muscles, under control of the will, can increase the force of breathing.

The action of the diaphragm is a special factor in breathing. Its action is a natural process, and without deep breathing the processes of life would not be carried on.

Deep breathing promotes health, and cures disease, but the breathing with special filling of the lungs at special times, is essential to the restoration of health; all conditions can be benefited by breathing.

Tuberculosis can only be cured by oxygenating the blood. It is the remedy. The capacity for breathing can be increased by practice and expansion of the lung cells; this can be done gradually.

Deep breathing should be insisted upon under all circumstances and conditions.

Rules for Correct Breathing.

Breathe from the diaphragm, deeply, slowly and regularly; inhale, counting four; hold the breath then exhale to count seven; time the count of your pulse-beat. Gradually increase the length of your breath until you -can count seven, holding three, exhale ten. Do not overdo ,at first, but strive to have perfect control of the breath.

Inhalation should be same as the exhalation, as to time; exhalation should be the longer, if any difference. Always breathe through the nostrils. Avoid the high chest breathing; it should always be the deep, rhythmic breathing. It produces the descent of the diaphragm which vibrates, exercises and greatly massages the vital organs.

This process vitalizes the entire system, sending healthy blood to every part. The invalid should always sit in such a position that the lungs may be expanded and the air permitted to permeate every air cell, at all times.

The accumulation of unburned food, or waste material, uneliminated, causes many of the conditions de-nominated disease, and will not down but by elimination. This cannot take place without the proper oxygenation of the blood, and deep breathing is the only rational means of its accomplishment.

Freedom of circulation and oxygenation means restoration to a normal state, when disease is manifest anywhere in the body.

The necessity exists in every human being to maintain vital force in order to be healthy, and this vital force comes from food, water and air.

Without a fuel supply the fires will not burn. Unless they do burn there can be no electricity furnished; they will not burn without oxygen.

Deep breathing increases the amount of oxygen, this burns up the waste material, purifies the blood, furnishes new power to all the tissues, increases the circulation, produces more force, and in proportion to the force generated, the normal state of the system is maintained.

It is necessary also to use this force, and to direct it any and everywhere into the tissues where needed, and this can be done by the will, forcing attention to that part, and practicing the necessary exercise to insure the vital power, thus forced into the special part, to act and expend its vitalizing influence.

Activity of mind, and body, is maintained by exercise, but the exercise must not be too vigorous nor exhausting. The material from which fire is produced must be kept supplied in the form of food.

Paralysis may be relieved by sending the vital electricity into the part. Instead of nursing the paralyzed limb, it should be compelled to labor, and to receive the mental suggestion, that it shall receive the electric force into it.

The mind should be forced into it, the circulation maintained by manipulation of the kind that exercises every fiber in the paralyzed part and keeps up the flow of electric fluid necessary to remove the pent-up, wasted debris accumulated in the part; the electricity will revitalize the deadened nervous system.

The warmed hands should be properly placed over the parts, so as to direct the current in the right place. The exercises should be repeated at frequent intervals until restoration takes place. Perseverence is an essential in such conditions.

The abdominal treatment is made by placing the hands in a position to distribute the positive force where the pain, or the general weakness is, in all stomach troubles, and when there is inactivity or constipation, place the hands along the sides over the ascending and the descending colon, take deep inhalations, force the diaphragm action regularly, and think concentratively so as to drive the electricity to the parts diseased or out of harmony.

Practice in this regard will perfect the habit, and should be continued until the individual becomes adept therein.

Great mind power means the ability to concentrate much electric energy into the reason part of the brain for the process of thinking. The greater the mind, the greater amount of energy required in the brain. To center energy into the brain for hard thinking, takes much, if not all, away from the stomach, and so decreases the power of digestion. This in turn, decreases both the, fuel supply and the production of vital force-power.

The great brain worker in his thinking, hard thinking, continues to center still more energy into the brain, which, again decreases the fuel, and the nerve supply. To keep up this mental concentration invariably brings on indigestion; that, in turn, develops into nervous prostration; and nervous prostration brings on heart trouble and insomnia,. which, finally, result in nervous wreck.

The great mistake made by brain-workers has been and is that they center the energy of the body into the brain at the wrong moment.

In beginning concentration, take in a few deep breaths, and direct the energy to the stomach; take a full, deep breath, realizing as you inhale a mental fact - use a mental effort to center the mind into an energy directed to the stomach. This drives the electric energy to the spot. This increases the mind power, because it creates the energy from the food which comes from the digestion. This should be strictly attended to and regularly done.

It is essential to keep up the fires to have steam to run the machinery. Too much consideration cannot be given to the principles involved regarding the question of supply and demand. The food must be taken, and must be digested or it will not be assimilated, and if not assimilated the power will not be made.

To center the energies into the brain when digestion is going on, changes the order of natural law, and should be rigidly avoided, if health is a consideration. These facts observed insures a return to health as well as preservation of it.

The Stomach Treatment.

I. Lie down. If in bed, of course it is easy to apply the hands to the bare skin; if in the daytime, loosen the clothing, get the hands as near the skin as possible.

II. Breathe deeply for a few minutes; learn to breathe with the diaphragm, so that it will press down on the stomach and vital organs.

This will expand and contract the stomach muscles and walls of the abdomen, getting the vital organs into a strongly active condition, supply oxygen for digestion, and oxydation of the food. Thus the furnace will be in good order and ready to burn the fuel.

III. Rub the hands briskly together. That action will heat them and arouse latent energy throughout the whole system. The tiny cells of the various tissues will release a great amount of energy, which can be drawn through the stomach treatment into that organ.

Now place the hands in position; remember the right hand is positive, the left hand negative (if left handed, the left hand will be positive and the right hand negative); place the positive hand over the stomach, the negative over the upper intestines.

Do not let the hands touch each other. Cross the feet or just touch them together. There is now a complete electric circuit, of which the stomach is the positive ,center for the electricity of the whole body.

IV. Now relax the whole body. The hands are engaged so you cannot read, and do not try to do anything, but just relax and feel the electricity flowing from all over the body into the stomach, making it do its work thoroughly.

Again relax utterly; just think how perfectly the digestion is being carried out; keep your mind on the wonderful mechanical and chemical process going on; think confident, wholesome, kindly thoughts.

You must keep your stomach alkaline. If you have acid" thoughts you will make "acid" stomach, and spoil the process.

V. Mental. Encourage the stomach to do good work; praise its power and energy; enjoy the subtle warmth and gentle peristaltic action which you have started up in that organ. Get deeply interested in its final forces. Have full confidence in its power to perform its functions properly.

If you still feel there is inactivity of the stomach, continue to breathe deeply; control the breath; that is, as you slowly exhale, center the energy into the stomach and upper intestines, that is under the hand.

Do not worry if you cannot concentrate the mind on the process of digestion in the stomach for any length of time. A moment or two, if rightly done, opens the connection between the brain and the stomach and is all sufficient.

Just be relaxed, restful, hopeful, and the hands will do the work all right. These methods of concentration, along with a calm, confident, peaceful and gently positive, attitude of mind, will close other avenues for the escape of the electricity, and open wide the connection with the stomach, so that organ gets a full supply. Then, in turn, as the dynamo, it will create a new supply for the rest of the body.

Human Electricity.

Before eating, take three to five minutes out doors, breathing regularly. Oxygenate the blood, and then masticate the food thoroughly.

Food should be taken in small mouthfuls and thoroughly masticated. When you go to the table, allow no perplexing subject, demanding mental effort, to be introduced or discussed, to worry the brain. Lying down after eating affords time for rest and recuperation of nerves which control digestion. This should be especially regarded by invalids. A half hour in a quiet, recumbent position is sufficient, relaxing every fiber of the muscular tissue.

After lying down, take a few minutes' time in deep breathing, and rubbing the hands together, getting up a warm glow; and then apply the right hand to the stomach, above the waist line, and the left hand below the waist line, letting them remain there for half an hour or so. Right hand is positive, left negative.

Refrain from drinking iced water. Drink warm water or soup - no liquids during mastication. Relax the entire system, and assume a negative state as much as possible. Any tension interferes with normal circulation of the blood and other fluids.

An alkali and an acid, in a moist state, generate electricity; this results after friction and applying hands to abdomen, and may be increased by wetting hands in vinegar, or moisten the hands with dilute muriatic acid - the palms moistened. Placing the feet so they touch, tends to return electricity back into system.

Centering the energies on the object desired, or into intestines, relieves the constipation, by increasing peristalsis.

Eczema, headaches, and various other conditions arise from lack of proper mastication of food, causing indigestion. Bad breath, and all such conditions can be cured by proper mastication and digestion of foods.

The mental concentration, willing strongly what is desired, is an essential in persons who think, but the results will generally come regardless of the concentration, in many conditions called disease.

Direct energy from brain into stomach, then digestion follows. The principles above followed insure a quick return of health, is rational, physiologic, reasonable, and demands special attention by all who regard health and the comforts consequent therefrom.

The vital forces are maintained through animal electricity, and should be very scrupulously considered, and every means utilized to carry out the principles involved, and avoid foreign substances altogether, resorting to these natural means under all circumstances and conditions, where possible.


REGIONAL PATHOLOGY

The abdomen is artificially divided into nine regions by two lines, the upper parallel with the cartilages of the ninth ribs, the lower with the iliac crests, and by two lines from the cartilages of the eighth rib to the center of Poupart's ligament. The regions thus formed are: above, the right hypochondriac, the epigastric, and the left hypochondriac; secondly, the right lumbar, the umbilical, and the left lumbar; and below, the right inguinal, the hypogastric, and the left inguinal.

General enlargement of the abdomen may be normally caused by an accumulation of food or drink after a hearty meal, or by pregnancy. Pathologic distention is due to gases, dropsical effusions, morbid growths, and enlarged viscera.

The "pot-belly" of children is seen in cases of scrofulous affection of the mesenteric glands, and sometimes in chronic gastrointestinal catarrh.

When the abdomen is distended with gas, there is a high-pitched note on percussion. In fluid distention there are fluctuation and a characteristic dullness. In general effusion the fluid changes position with change of the patient's posture. If the effusion is circumscribed, it indicates special visceral diseases, particularly of the liver, ovary, or kidney, according to the location.

In tympanitis, the epigastrium is quite prominent, while in ascites it is moderately flat.

Enlargement of the right hypochondrium is most frequently due to disease of the liver or gall-bladder. Occasionally, tumors of the kidneys or hydronephrosis cause swelling in this location. Such tumors lie behind the ascending colon, and their dullness is thus obscured by superficial tympany. Examination of the urine is of value in these cases.

Enlargement of the lumbar regions may be due to tumor, cyst, or abscess of the kidney.
Enlargement of the right iliac region may be due to diseases of the cecum and appendix, to fecal impaction, to tumors of the ovary, to pelvic abscesses, and to enlarged or movable kidney.

Enlargement of the epigastrium may be due to distention of the stomach, to dilatation or morbid growth of this organ, to cancer of the cyst of the pancreas, to cancer of the large intestine, to tumor of the left lobe of the liver, or to aneurism.

Enlargement of the umbilical region may be due to umbilical hernia; to rupture of the abdominal muscles; to floating spleen, kidney, or liver; to tubercular disease of the omentum or mesenteric glands; to dilatation after a full meal; to cancer of the stomach, liver, or gall-bladder, particularly on the right side. Disease of the pancreas and spleen, and effusions into the lesser peritoneal cavity may cause swelling, beginning at the left side. The vertebras may project and cause tumors in this location.

Enlargement in the hypogastric region may be caused by distention of the bladder, by pregnancy, by tumors and cysts of the uterus. It is common, also, in dilatation and prolapse of the stomach, in which conditions the lesser curvature of the stomach can readily be outlined. Dropsy may also cause enlargement in that region.

Enlargement of the left hypochondrium may be due to enlargement of the spleen, to movable kidney or tumors of the kidney, to effusions into the lesser peritoneal cavity, and to dilatation or carcinoma of the stomach.

Enlargement of the left iliac region may be due to, malignant tumor of the sigmoid flexure, to twisting of the bowel on itself (volvulus), to fecal impaction, and to causes of enlargement on the right side that are anatomically possible in this location.

The movements of abdominal swellings with the movements of respiration indicate that they are probably connected with the diaphragm, and depend on disease of the liver or spleen, as other organs have no normal attachment to the diaphragm.

Pulsation of the abdominal aorta may, sometimes, be observed in aneurism of this vessel. Pulsation of the liver is occasionally seen in tricuspid regurgitation.

The skin of the abdomen is the seat of the specific eruption of typhoid fever.

Retraction of the abdomen is seen in extremely thin and emaciated persons, in cholera, dysentery, and similar diseases. If the retraction is associated with marked rigidity and pain, we may suspect hepatic, renal, or metallic colic, or the beginning of peritonitis.

In the second stage of tubercular meningitis of children there is retraction of the abdomen.

Alteration in movement of the abdomen. - Restricted: (1) by tight lacing, or tight clothing; (2) certain diseases, as tuberculosis; (3) ascites; (4) abdominal tumors; (5) paralysis of the diaphragm, which causes retraction of the abdomen during inspiration.

Palpation of abdomen. - The patient should lie on the back, with the shoulders elevated and the knees drawn up. Turning the patient from side to side facilitates palpation of the internal organs.

The presence or absence of pain upon pressure is important. In all forms of colic, pressure relieves pain, while in acute inflammatory processes, pressure increases pain. The pain of an inflammatory condition of a serous membrane is sharp and cutting, while pain of an inflammation of a mucous membrane is usually dull.

Percussion of Abdomen. - The patient should always be in the same position as for palpation. The character of the note should be considered, whether dull, flat, or tympanitic, depending upon the amount of air present. The boundaries of the different organs are determined by the abrupt change of note.

Auscultation of abdomen is particularly applicable as a diagnostic measure in aneurisms of the abdominal aorta and in detecting the fetal heart-sound.

Diffuse abdominal pain may be due to peritonitis, rheumatism of the abdominal muscles, or hysteria.

Localized abdominal pain is usually felt directly over the part affected. Abdominal pain is sometimes referred, from some other part, through nerve filaments. Neuralgia is recognized by the intermittent character of the pain and the well known points of tenderness, and by the associate anemia.

Acute abdominal pain points to inflammation, perforation, gastralgia, enteralgia, or occlusion of some of the numerous abdominal channels.

Sudden and severe pain is usually due to traumatism, perforation, or colic. In colic the pain is paroxysmal, and each spasm may be attended by vomiting, rapid pulse, cold sweat, and more or less collapse.

Persistent abdominal pain results from various visceral diseases, chronic peritonitis, ulcers, gastrointestinal neuroses, diseases of the vertebras, or abdominal aneurism. In vertebral disease, and abdominal aneurism, the pain is intermittent and located about the navel.


CHEST EXAMINATION

It is important to know conditions inside the chest walls. For the purpose of physical examination the chest is divided into three general regions - anterior, posterior, lateral.

The anterior region is subdivided into the clavicular, supraclavicular, infraclavicular, mammary, inframammary, upper sternal, and lower sternal regions.

The clavicular portion is covered by the clavicle. The supraclavicular region is above the clavicle, and contains the apex of each lung, with portions of the subclavian and carotid arteries and subelavian and jugular veins. The infraclavicular region extends from the clavicle to the lower border of the third rib, and from the edge of the sternum to a line drawn vertically from the junction of the middle and outer third of the clavicle. It contains the upper lobe of the lung and main bronchi; on the right side, the superior vena cava and part of the aortic arch; and on the left side, a portion of the pulmonary artery.

The mammary region extends from the lower border of the third rib to the upper border of the sixth rib, and from the edge of the sternum to the vertical line previously mentioned. The nipple is usually placed in the center of this region, between the fourth and fifth rib. This region contains, on the right side, the right lung, part of the diaphragm, a portion of the right auricle and right ventricle; on the left side, the lung and a small part of the right ventricle.

The inframammary region extends from the sixth rib to the margin of the false ribs, and from the edge of the sternum to the vertical line. It contains, on the right side, the liver and portion of the lung on deep inspiration; on the left side, the left lobe of the liver, stomach, and a part of the spleen.

The upper sternal region extends from the suprasternal notch to the junction of the third costal cartilage with the sternum. It contains the ascending arch of the aorta, portions of the superior vena cava, the innominate veins, subclavian arteries, esophagus, and the trachea.

The lower sternal region extends downward from the junction of the third costal cartilage with the sternum. It contains portions of the lung, right and left ventricles, liver and stomach.

The parasternal line is the vertical line drawn midway between the sternum and the mammary line.

The posterior region is subdivided into the scapular, infrascapular, and interscapular regions. The scapular region is covered by the scapula and contains the greater portion of the lung.

The infrascapular region is bounded above by a horizontal line drawn across the inferior angles of the scapulas; below by the twelfth rib; internally by the vertebras; and externally by the posterior border of the lower axillary region. It contains, on the right side, a portion of the lung, liver and kidney; and on the left side, a portion of the lung, intestine, spleen, kidney and descending aorta.
The interscapular region lies between the scapulas and the vertebras, from the second to the sixth. It contains portions of the lungs, bronchi, esophagus and descending aorta.

The lateral region is divided by the sixth rib into the axillary and infra-axillary regions. The axillary region corresponds to the upper lobes of the lung and main bronchi. The infra-axfllary region lies between the axillary region and the edges of the false ribs. It contains the lung and liver on the right side; on the left, the lung, stomach, and spleen.

Physical Examination.

By inspection, changes in size, form and symmetry of the chest, and the rhythm, frequency, and force of the movements of the walls are noted. A phthisical chest is small; the thorax is long and flat; the ribs are oblique, the scapulas project, and there is the formation of an acute angle by the divergence of the costal margin from the sternum.

In a richitic chest the sternum is prominent; the sides of the chest are flattened, and there are often nodules along the sternal ends of the ribs.

In the emphysematous chest the thorax is short, with the antero-posterior diameter as long as the transverse; the chest is barrel-shaped; the ribs are at right angles to the sternum; the chest moves as if in a solid piece. Palpation detects tenderness, edema, tactile fremitus, and limitation of expansion.

Fremitus - palpable vibration - is increased where the chest walls are thin and in consolidation, as is found in pneumonia and tuberculosis, and is diminished where there are thick chest walls and in pleural effusion.

Percussion may be performed by directly striking the chest (this is called immediate percussion), or by striking some interposed substance (mediate percussion). The acoustic properties of the percussion-note are intensity, pitch, duration, and quality. The quality of the note depends upon the presence or absence of air. A resonant sound indicates the presence of air; dullness indicates a more dense medium.

Hyper-resonance is observed in cavities, emphysema, pneumothorax, distended colon, or stomach, and over a portion of the lung above the line of pleural effusion, and above the line of consolidation, in the early stage of pneumonia. Tympany is a hollow, drum-like sound. Crack-pot resonance is a modified tympany, detected over a cavity, or in pneumothorax.

Dullness, or flatness is present in congested or consolidated lungs. Auscultation is mediate or immediate and detects alterations in the respiratory murmur, vocal resonance, and adventitious sounds, rales, and friction sounds.

The respiratory murmur may be modified in intensity, rhythm, and quality. The modifications of intensity are puerile, exaggerated, or feeble respirations. The modifications of rhythm are asthmatic, emphysematous, and cogged-wheel, or jerky respirations.

The modifications of quality are bronchial, cavernous, and amphoric breathing. Bronchial breathing occurs in lobar pneumonia, phthisis, compensatory emphysema, tumor, syphilis, and infarct (an obstruction, or a plug). Both inspiration and expiration are harsh, and have a high-pitched (tubular) character. Cavernous breathing is low-pitched and blowing in character, and is heard over cavities. Amphoric breathing is similar to the sound produced by blowing gently over the mouth of an empty jar. It is present in phthisical cavities, pneumothorax with patulous opening, and localized consolidation near a large bronchus.

Auscultation of the voice. - Vocal resonance is increased over the apex of the right lung in health and in phthisical and pneumonic consolidations. It is diminished in thick chest walls, pleural effusions, emphysema, and pulmonary edema. Bronchophony, or exaggerated vocal fremitus, occurs in phthisis.

Pectoriloquy, the complete transmission of the whispered words to the ear, is heard over phthisical cavities and in pneumothorax when the lung is patulous. Egophony, in which the voice has a nasal, trembling sound, is heard at the upper border of dullness in pleural effusions.

Adventitious sounds, or accidental, foreign or acquired, include rales, metallic tinkling, and pleuritic friction sound. Rales may be dry or moist. Dry rales occur in bronchitis and asthma, and may be low-pitched, snoring sounds (sonorous rales) or high-pitched, whistling sounds (sibilant rales). Moist rales are produced by the passage of air through liquid, and may be crepitant, sub-crepitant, or gurgling in character. Crepitant rales are extremely fine and occur at the end of inspiration; they are heard in the first stage of pneumonia and in engorgement and edema of the lungs. Sub-crepitant rales are comparatively few in number, are heard during inspiration and expiration, in capillary bronchitis, pulmonary edema, hypostaticpulmonary congestion, and incipient phthisis. Gurgling rales may be large or small, and are heard during inspiration and expiration, in phthisical cavities, bronchial hemorrhage, and over the trachea.

Metallic tinkling is a bell-like sound heard in pneumothorax and phthisical cavities, and is caused by the dropping of a liquid through the space enclosed in tense walls.

The succussion splash is produced in pneumothorax when the patient is suddenly shaken. Pleuritic friction sounds are heard during inspiration and expiration, and do not pass away after coughing. They are pathognomonic of pleurisy.

Mensuration consists in the measurement of the chest to determine unilateral enlargements or depressions of the chest.

Succussion. - This method is practiced by suddenly shaking the patient and auscultating the chest, when, if fluid is present, as in pneumohydrothorax, a splashingsound is heard. Amphoric respiration is usually heard.

We sum up the definition of the physical sounds, according to Da Costa, as follows, omitting details: When on percussion there is a clear sound, the lung tissue will be healthy, or nearly so; at any rate, no increased density from deposits, etc. When there is a dull sound on percussion, we will find bronchial, or harsh respiration, solidification of pulmonary structure, or absent respiration and effusion into pleural cavity. When we have a tympanic sound in the lung, there will be increased quantity of air in the chest, due to a cavity or to over-distention of the air cells. When there is amphoric or metallic sound, we will find a large cavity with elastic walls. When there is a cracked-metal sound, there will generally be a cavity communicating with a bronchial tube.

The above is a summary from various pathologists in a small compass, and those interested in diagnosing lung troubles will find it highly useful and greatly beneficial in arriving at a correct diagnosis.

The majority of lung troubles being caused by the circumscription of the chest walls, it will become a matter of interest to apply the means recommended in this volume to relieve the conditions causing the trouble, and thus afford relief to the one afflicted.


THE ELEMENTARY CONSTITUENTS OF THE HUMAN BODY

In nature we have four cardinal elements - Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen. Some one or more of these enter into the food eaten to make up the physical structure we call bone, muscle, cartilage, tendon, etc., and these are so combined that perfect harmony, in a normal condition, exists.

In addition to these four cardinal elements we have Sulphur, Phosphorus, Chlorine, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Silicon, Lithium, Manganese, Flourine.

It is said by physiologists that oxygen enters into the fluids of the body in a comparatively free state, either in solution or loosely combined.

Nitrogen is found dissolved in the fluids; hydrogen occurs as a product of decomposition in the alimentary canal.

Each of these elements is composed of special chemical equivalents, and all combined are said to embrace all of the chemical constituents or elements of the body.

It is said that the smallest atom of either of these elements is capable of producing changes in a gland; so that it is a matter inconceivable, as to what influences one is constantly exposed, were it not that the body is controlled by mind, and that mind sees to it that every molecule, even every atomic cell, is superintended and so arranged as to prevent friction throughout the body, that this same care is maintained from infancy to an indefinite number of Years.

The mind so directs every possible change in the relationship of every part of the body that each particle is enabled to maintain its proper function without disturbing other parts, however intricate and important; every chemical change that takes place in the body conduces to its repair and waste, no friction occurs, unless some abnormal element is introduced, or some outside and unnatural influence is brought to bear which disturbs the normal harmony as designed by an all-wise Creator.

It is strange that a system composed of so many atoms and so marvelously complicated, should continue to be the abode of mentality so long. Were it not that that overruling power we call Deity, who knows all things, sees all things, mankind would not have been; but as God has seen fit to create him, He has never left him nor forsaken him; but the same mind that He imparted to him when He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, has superintended him, in all his parts, from that moment till now.

Three Nervous Systems.

The body has distributed throughout every tissue, three nervous systems, namely: the Motor, the Sensory, and the Sympathetic Nervous systems. These are so arranged that they have direct communication with each other, so that mental communication is had throughout the entire body, all the time, whether one is awake or asleep. This is the natural order, if a normal condition is maintained, and no disturbing element introduced.

Disturbance of any sort, anywhere in the body, causes inharmony - disease - if allowed to continue. The system has a marvelously self-preserving power of righting itself, of resisting and warding off approaching, incompatible influences, which cause abnormality in the body. When every organ is normal, and is properly cared for, disease is an impossibility, even malignant, epidemic, endemic or contagious; for such a condition is immune from disease.

The above declarations relating to a normal condition, furnishes us with what is denominated a physiological state, and furnishes one with a data from which to determine abnormal, or pathological conditions. Any deviation from a normal condition, being unnatural, abnormal, incompatible, produces inharmony throughout the body, if left to itself; the body not having strength to right the wrong within itself, the inharmony will result in disease, and finally death of the body.

It is not enough to have the bones and muscles all properly adjusted, in order to have harmony (while that is an essential); there are other things to consider in the matter of harmonious co-ordination of the body to maintain that condition denominated health.

While contracted muscles may obstruct the circulation of the fluids of the body, press with unnatural force upon nerve filaments, and interfere with their normal functions, the food question should not be lost sight of.

When the proper, normal constituents of the blood are deficient in elements, the conditions are but little ameliorated by any sort of physical manipulations, medicines or appliances, until the proper elements are supplied by the food, which contains the normal elements, is later digested and assimilated.

Every condition affecting the person physically, mentally, morally or spiritually, must be regarded by the healer, should be especially and scrupulously considered and met, in order to bring about normal conditions.

The mechanism of the physical organism is so complicated that even the smallest detail in its relationship with itself and its environments should be duly considered, excesses removed, deficiencies supplied, and the mental state should always receive especial consideration; because the mind, it will be understood, controls the body, and “as one thinketh, so is he.” One's thoughts have to do with his physical and mental welfare, are always the controlling factor in the welfare of the entire life of the body, for, without mind to control the body, it would soon die and return to its original dust.

As long as harmony exists in the body the functions of every part are normally performed. Interference with the functionaries causes friction; undue irritation or overuse of any organ, if persisted in, will produce inharmony, exhaustion, disease. To arrest nerve waste, stopping the friction generally restores harmony, and disease, caused by loss of nerve power, is abolished, nature asserts its wonted and accustomed order.

Without recognizing these factors in the production of disease, one is not properly fitted to be entrusted with the care of the afflicted. The adjustment of the person with the environments means a normal state. The proper food, air, water and habits, right thoughts and business should be duly regarded in all cases, with all people, in order to maintain health.

A deficiency in food elements lessens the power derivable therefrom, and weakness of the entire system is the consequence.

The breathing apparatus - the lungs - may be normal, but if the air breathed is impure, or the nervous system enervated so that sufficient force cannot be exercised to inhale the air, oxygenation does not take place, the result is, the blood returns to the system impure, its carbon dioxide remaining in it, hence the normal functions are not performed, disease may occur at any place, or in any form or character in the body, due to the absorption of toxin and retention of poisonous elements which should have been eliminated through proper breathing.

The system having, normally, about 70% water as its main constituent, should have this element statedly, normally introduced and maintained, in order that freedom of the distribution of the elements may take place throughout the body. There is water in all of the tissues, blood, bone, cartilage, brain and nerves. Without a sufficient amount of water be supplied at all times, from some source, the solution of certain chemical elements will not take place, friction will be inevitable, disease may be a consequence.

Exercise is so essential to the maintenance of the circulation that it cannot be neglected without deleterious results ensuing, such as stasis of the fluids; lack of exercise will produce weakness from lack of oxygenation of the blood. This generates toxic poisons in the tissues, and disease is a consequence.

The proper thoughts should always be maintained evil thought abandoned, for "As one thinketh in his heart, so is he." Hence to feel well one must have and hold in mind good thoughts. Pessimism, anxiety, worry, hatred, anger and fear are the sources of more than half the troubles of this life, and cause many diseases that shorten life. They decrease the pleasures of life in every way. Hence should be avoided.

Food loses its assimilative power through anxiety, anger and fear. It will not be digested properly when the mind is occupied in serious or intent thought on business. The system will suffer the loss of strength, become anemic, and neurasthenic as a consequence of neglecting to be quiet and relaxed, as well as abandoning all business and serious thoughts while eating, and for a reasonable time after meals. "Eat your food with gladness and singleness of heart," is the Divine admonition. This is absolutely important at all times.

In order to properly build up the body there must be proper food eaten. The food must be properly masticated, combined, duly proportioned, eaten at stated and regular intervals, to be properly digested. The glandular system must be in condition to perform the work of secretion in the various localities along the alimentary canal.

Under these conditions it is reasonable to expect normal digestion, proper assimilation which results in building up normal tissue, and maintaining that condition denominated health.

Health is a product, as is disease. The one is the product of right living, the other of wrong living. Intelligence, properly directed, chooses the right way, all things being equal, continuing in the right course; health, longevity, happiness and contentment follow as effects follow causes.

A haphazard, slipshod method of living is an uncertain, unintelligent way to live. Everything in this world is under law. Where the law relating to health is observed, harmony prevails, all of its beneficent consequences follow. The consequences of violated law are inevitable, because it produces inharmony. Inharmony produces friction - that is, it disarranges the natural order of things.


THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS OF THE BODY

The blood contains the material for every tissue in the body. It supplies nutriment to every organ, enabling it to perform its individual function; it is, indeed, a microcosm, able to supply every possible want to the animal economy.

The Inorganic Chemical Constituents.

The material for the nerves are magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium and ferric phosphates (iron phosphates) and potassium chloride.

Muscle constituents are the same as above and ferric phosphate. The connective tissues contain for their specific substance, silica and calcium phosphate, while that of the elastic tissue and bone surface is calcium fluoride.

The constituents of bone are magnesium phosphate, and a very large proportion of calcium phosphate. Calcium phosphate is found in small quantities in the muscles, the nerves, the brain and connective tissue.

The brain also contains potassium and sodium phosphate. Cartilege and the mucous membranes have for their specific inorganic material sodium chloride, which occurs in all solids and fluids of the body.

The hair, skin and nails contain silica; the crystaline lens contains, among other inorganic substances, also ferric (iron).

The intercellular fluids contain potassium chloride, sodium and calcium phosphates, and all of the sulphates. Potassium sulphate is in all the structures. The carbonates, as such, are without any influence in the process of the formation of new tissue, or cell formation.

The oxygen of the air, upon reaching the tissue through the blood by means of the respiration, acts upon, the organic substances which are to enter into the formation of new tissue. The products of this action are the organic materials which form the physical basis of muscle, nerve, connective tissue and mucous substance; each of these substances is the basis of a particular group of cells, to which, by means of chemical affinity, the above mentioned cell-salts are united, and thus new tissue is produced.

With the production of new tissue there occurs at the same time a destruction of the old tissue, resulting from the action of oxygen on the organic substances forming the basis of these cells.

This oxydation has, as a consequence, a breaking down of the cells themselves. The ultimate results of this combustion of the organic substances are the formation of urea, uric, sulphuric, phosphoric, lactic, and carbonic acid, also water.

There are many intermediate members of the series, as, for instance, hypoxanthin, acetic, and butyric acids, etc., but they need not be mentioned with this therapeutical method, because, so far as our present knowledge of them extend, they play a very subordinate role.

Urea, uric acid and sulphuric acid are the result of the oxygenation of the albumenous substances, while phosphoric acid is produced by the oxydation of lecithin contained in the nervous tissue, brain, spinal cord, and blood corpuscles. Lactic acid results from the fermentation of milk sugar, and finally breaks down into carbonic acid and water.
Sulphuric and phosphoric acids unite with the bases of the carbonates, forming sulphates and phosphates, and set free carbonic acid.

By means of the presence of sodium phosphate in the system, lactic acid is decomposed into carbonic acid and water. This salt has the power of holding carbonic acid in combination, fixing it, and does this in proportion of two parts of carbonic acid to one of the phosphoric acid which it contains.

This combination is carried to the lungs, and there, by the action of oxygen from the inhaled air, the carbonic acid is set free from its loose union from sodium phosphate, is exhaled and exchanged for oxygen.

Uric acid is kept in solution in the blood by the presence of sodium phosphate, and is eliminated as such by the kidneys.

When this acid loses its solubility from the lack of sodium phosphate, it combines with the basis of sodium carbonate, and forms urate of sodium, which is insoluble. When this is deposited around joints, it gives rise to gout and acute articular rheumatism.

Sodium phosphate serves to saponify the fat, or probably emulsify it. This salt can also take up albumen, besides the above-named acids.

Albumen behaves itself like an acid. By the reason of the property of taking up albumen, the sodium phosphate can carry on resorption of pathogenic deposits of albumenous substances. It cures scrofulosis, glandular, swellings, lupus, incipient tuberculosis, etc.
Disturbance of the molecules of sodium sulphate in, the intercellular fluids may be followed, according to its duration or extent, as well as its location, by retarded removal of the water of oxydation and its dissolved or suspended matters. This implies consequent liability to bilious vomiting, diarrhoea, erysipelas, diabetes, etc.

It is interesting to note that sodium sulphate and sodium chloride act in opposite ways; for while the former - the sulphate - removes from the tissues the water, according to the process just described, the muriate - the common salt - enters the tissues dissolved in the water from the blood plasma, in order that the requisite degree of moisture proper for each tissue may be maintained.

The final products of the oxydation of the organic substances are urea, carbonic acid, and water. These, together with the salt set free, leave the tissues, and thereby give place to less fully oxidized organic bodies, which, in turn, undergo finally the same metamorphosis.

The products of this retrograde tissue change are conveyed through the lymphatics, the connective tissue, and the veins to the gall bladder, lungs, kidneys, bladder and skin, are thereby removed from the organism with the excretions, such as the urine, perspiration, feces, etc.

The importance and the dignity of the function of the connective tissue has been established since the researches of Virchow, Moleschott and Von Recklinghausen have led to its closer study and proven its fertile activity.

What formerly seemed only intended as a filling in, or protective covering, appears now as the matrix in which the minute capillaries carry the plasma from the blood to the tissues and return the same to the blood vessels; at the same time serves as one of the most important generation of young cells, which are capable of developing out of the embryonic tissue elements into the most differentiated structures of the body.

Inasmuch as the elementary constituents are derivable from the food eaten, it becomes an essential consideration as to what is eaten, what proportion of nutrient material the food consumed contains.

The nutritive value of foods depends mainly upon the amount and proportion of actually nutritive materials which they contain.

The chief uses of food, then, are two: first, to form the material of the body and repair its wastes; second, to yield heat to keep the body warm and muscular and other power for the work it has to do.

In forming the tissues and fluids of the body the food serves for building and repair. In yielding heat and power .it serves as fuel. The different nutriments of food serve the body in different ways. The ways in which our food nourishes us may be briefly summarized as follows: It either is used to form the tissues and fluids of the body; to repair the waste of tissues; or is stored in the body for future consumption; is consumed as fuel, its potential energy being transformed as heat or muscular energy, or other forms of energy by the body; or, in being consumed, protects tissues or other food from consumption.

We have then to consider the kinds and amounts of nutrients in different food materials, their digestibility, and the kind and amounts needed for nourishment by people doing different kinds of work. Hence their chemical constituents are of special importance for consideration.

The foods contain the natural elements of the body; when selected and properly combined, masticated, and digested, are converted into the chemical combinations needed to supply nourishment for every organ in the body.

If the food contains the elements, the system appropriates them, and the body is renewed through the process of chemical assimilation of the food.

Note: - Those especially interested in the properties and uses of the Schussler Tissue Elements, can obtain a pamphlet of any Homoeopathic Pharmacy, which will give ample description of them, and how to use them in the treatment of diseases caused by a deficiency of elements in the blood.

Unless the articles of food contain the normal constituents of the blood, the system soon becomes enervated, disease or inharmony results. If there is a deficiency of chemical elements in the body, it is due to deficiency of those elements in the food eaten.

If an excess of food is ingested, it interferes with digestion, the excess serves as an irritant, over stimulating the organs which generate the secretions, producing an excess, causing enervation of the nervous system, or causing chemical changes in the alimentary canal, gas formation, distention and undue pressure, with all of its evil consequences.

Much inharmony is traceable to the digestive tract, the result of errors in diet.
The question of diet demands special consideration in every condition, whether sick or well. Errors in diet cause sickness. Correct feeding preserves health. Disease originates in excess, wrong combinations, lack of proper mastication; or disregard to age, climate, vocation, idiosyncrasy, preparation, mentality, and the object to be accomplished in eating.

Circumstances and conditions of each and every individual have to be considered; the kind of food selected which meets the indications is the proper course to pursue.
One can maintain perfect health by a proper selection of diet, eating the proper quantity, at the right intervals, and under the proper mental and physical conditions.

The sick may be restored to health, without other means, so far as nourishment is concerned, and without medicine or drugs. Inasmuch as errors in diet cause many of the ills to which humanity is subject, it is reasonable to conclude that leaving off the use of the foods which caused trouble, using the kind which supply the deficiency of the elements which is causing the abnormal condition, health will be restored.

Through the alimentary canal, situated at the beginning, and at certain localities, are special functionaries which prepare the food for assimilation; when each and every division performs its allotted task, the food is digested - converted into healthy blood, so that the entire body is rebuilt, rejuvenated, and the normal condition is thus maintained from youth to old age.

The system must be in a condition to secrete the elements in the glands to mix with the food - in the mouth; in the stomach; in the pancreas; in the liver - or the digestion is either interfered with or entirely arrested.

It is unwise to take food of any kind into the stomach, when the system is not in the condition to digest it. It is proper to abstain from eating any food when it does not agree with one, and decidedly necessary to abstain from all foods until the system is in a condition to take care of it.

Food taken under conditions where digestion is impossible, is only a foreign substance, an irritant, a tax, a depressant; it is absolutely injurious, even dangerous, as it often precipitates a crisis, ending in death.

Take warning: do not feed the individual when sick. He should fast, and use plenty of water - pure water is the only thing allowable to go into the stomach, until nature demands food, and she will demand it when ready for it. The diet question is one of the most important, and has a place, in the treatment of disease, whose importance has been disregarded too often, in fact, has scarcely been considered at all.

It should be absolutely understood that the human body is renewed by the nourishment derived from the food eaten, provided it has the elements in it necessary to supply the demand, and provided the system is in a condition to take care of the food - that is, get out of the ingesta the elements it contains. That can only be done when the glands and the secretary organs are in a condition to digest food.

The motto should be, "When sick, quit eating." Let the digestive organs rest. Use plenty of water to wash out the waste material, then there will be occasion for food, for the system will demand it and be ready to take care of it. Use no food during fevers, of any kind.

The proper treatment will cure fevers before the system needs food. The successful practitioner is the one who knows how to deal with the digestive organs; how to so direct his patient's diet that it will be used at the Proper time, the proper quantity, and properly combined, so as to be a benefit rather than harm.

This subject is of the greatest importance, and the least considered, of all others, as a factor in health and in disease; and one which demands much attention.

Every other comfort in life is dependent upon health, and health is maintained by the proper care of the alimentary canal - using proper food, properly, timely, intelligently.
In the treatment of disease it will be well for the physician to take into consideration the various conditions which inhere in and belong to each individual case. Some cases require one thing, some another, and some may require many things done to restore them to health.

Some cases may only need a change in their manner of living, diet, etc., and be restored to health. Some cases may require general treatment, so as to restore the circulation of the fluids of the body. Others may require special spinal treatment, commonly called adjustment, to get well, and some may need attention regarding the accumulations in the colon, and how to remove them. Others may need the dilation of sphincter muscles, and so we find the indications in given conditions. The one who claims that all diseases are curable by one means has very little conception of the science of healing, and when his little round is finished he is at his rope's end, and if the patient is uncured, he knows nothing else to do; his patient may continue to suffer, simply because of ignorance along other lines of treatment, so that "a little learning is a dangerous thing."

Neuropathy includes and embraces every known means to right the wrongs, supply deficiencies, remove excesses, arrest nerve waste, take off the strain and pressure everywhere in the body.

If the conditions demand manipulations they should be given; if spinal adjustment, that should not be neglected or omitted; if correction in diet, that should be noticed, and strictly attended to; if flushing the colon is needed, it should not be neglected nor omitted; if dilatation of the sphincters is needed, nothing else will supply its place, and it should receive special attention; if bathing or exercise is needed, this should be done; if heat is needed in the form of hot cloths, this should not be neglected; if fasting is the proper thing in a given case it should by all means be insisted upon, and properly carried out; if a pair of lenses are required to remove pressure or take off the strain, use them.

The physician who has but one idea is not fitted to, meet the demands of suffering humanity. He should be so panoplied that every condition should receive his attention, and every known means employed which is necessary to existing demands as found in practice. The means used should be harmless, and will be if the natural means are employed. Unnatural means and foreign substances should never be employed, because they may produce irreparable damage, and are risky under all circumstances.


THE STUDY OF THE ELEMENTS AND HOW TO MAINTAIN HEALTH

The study of the elementary constituents of the human body has been made heretofore, for the purpose of ascertaining its composition for classification in the field of science, and not for determining its relationship with itself, as a living, vital organism, capable of the manifestations which concern the happiness and health of the individual.

Every atomic cell, every molecule, every element and every tissue in the body is made up of chemical elements, and these in definite proportion, so as to harmonize with the chemical constituents of every part of the body.

Every chemical element in the body is a product of the food eaten, air that is breathed, water drank; and if these chemical elements are maintained all the time of life, there is harmony, which is a normal state, or health.

Any deviation, modification, disturbance, or physical change, continued for any length of time not consistent with the natural order of things, causes inharmony, disease, death, sooner or later.

Food being the necessary nutrient material of every part of the body, it must be taken in proper quantities, at the proper times, and consisting of the proper chemical, elementary constituents, or inharmony results; while a normal supply taken at stated times, keeps up constant and uninterrupted harmony throughout the entire body.

Any article or articles of diet taken at unseasonable hours, in improper quantities, under improper conditions of the mental state, cause disturbance, and may result in that condition denominated pathology.

If the food administered should not contain the chemical constituents needed to maintain harmony, deleterious consequences ensue. Any condition aside from a normal condition, may be the legitimate result. One may have nervous exhaustion so that the nerves may not perform their wonted functions; one may have indigestion as a result of the enervation of the nervous system; one may have any disease that is named in the catalogue of pathology, simply as a result of a deficiency of one or more of the elements in the articles of diet used.

The normal supply of the proper food, at the right time, which contains all of the elements needed, is the natural remedy. That which keeps up the supply of the elements contained in the body, will keep it in a normal state, and restore the harmony when out of tune.

It is necessary that foods containing the normal elements of the body be eaten in order to renew the body and keep it in a normal condition, or the entire system will become diseased.

If food contains too much of the building-up material, the excess must be gotten rid of, or chemical changes will take place, gas will be formed, and uneasiness, unrest, inharmony ensue.

If the wrong combinations are ingested, too frequently, the system becomes taxed with its efforts to get rid of the excess, and unnecessary exhaustion of the nervous system ensues; this tends to inharmony throughout the body. If the food contains too much starch, too much energy is created, and vitality is lowered because of its evanescent influence. If too much carbonaceous foods are eaten, the body takes on too much adipose tissue.

If too much acid is taken into the system the body is weakened, gas is formed, producing distension of tissue, obstruction of the lumen of fluid-carrying vessels, stasis of the fluids, precipitation of acid crystals, hence irritation, disease and pain ensue.

If too much phosphatic foods are ingested, the brain becomes too much irritated, and general exhaustion ensues.

Thus we are what we are, largely, from what we eat, how we eat, when and what the compounds are we ingest into our alimentary tract.

All foods should be thoroughly masticated, thoroughly mixed with the saliva in the mouth, and the body should be free from exhaustion, the mind at rest. Give the digestive organs time to digest its rebuilding material before it is directed to some other pursuit. Eating should not be done in haste, nor while one is mentally disturbed, or after physical exercise, until a little rest is had.

Soups should have something solid in them, so as to, secure thorough mastication, for all foods should be masticated, and mixed with the salivary secretion before it is allowed to pass into the stomach.

Water is the only fluid which is allowable to be drank without chewing. Starchy foods should never be eaten with strong acids. The kind of food to be eaten depends upon conditions, vocation, age, habits, as regards quantity and combination.

Inasmuch as all of the organs, bone, nerve and tissue of the body are products of the food eaten, and through proper digestion and assimilation it is replenished from day to day, it becomes a matter of intense interest and importance as to what we eat, how we eat, and the combinations of the food eaten. The successful physician is the one who exercises due regard as to the diet of his, clientele, for everything depends upon assimilation and the normal elimination of the waste material - the product of used material.

Some Special Statements Regarding Foods.

Food of the right kind, amount and quality are essential considerations, as are also sufficient warmth, proper clothing, pure air, proper exercise, cleanliness, the right kind and amount of work, proper shelter and surroundings, sunlight and peace of mind.

As the largest share of our comfort and health comes from our food, it is of primary consideration.

The sickness and distress of the human family are consequences of unsuitable food, eating too much, too often, too fast, and from malnutrition.

The disposition of individuals is usually the result of eating, persistently, certain kinds of food; for we are made tip of what we eat and assimilate.

We should eat the kind of food that furnishes health and strength, which affect the disposition toward moral, intellectual and spiritual things, thus cultivating a higher standard as nearly as possible.

The best kinds of food, in a general way, are the cereals, fruits and nuts. How much, how often, and what to eat are questions of great importance, and must be decided by each individual, as the needs, the capacity and the ability of the digestive organs to care for it are to be especially considered.

The most nourishing foods are the most economical; such as barley, corn, whole wheat bread, rice, oatmeal, nuts, beans (dried), peas, lentils, and a whole list of plain, natural foods. These foods contain the most nourishment, digest easily, and cost much less than most other food products.

One should not become a slave to the appetite, but eat such food as shall conduce to the nourishment, health and comfort at the least cost.

 

The Combinations of Foods.

Those with weak digestive organs should not, as a rule, eat fruits and vegetables together, at the same meal, nor should they eat fat or fried foods.

Fruits and cereals are best suited for the morning meal; and really better for the evening meal also. If fruits are eaten, eat them before meals rather than at the end of the meal.

Most vegetables are better eaten at the mid-day meal. Cereals and fruits are preferable for food in warm weather, while fats, and meats, are better adapted for food in cold weather. Do not eat tomatoes with fruit, but they may be eaten with almost anything else.

All grains and vegetables should be thoroughly cooked, and the best way to cook them is to use a double boiler or place them in a separate dish, covered moderately tight, place that vessel over another one, putting water in the larger vessel, then place it over the fire, and let the article, whatever it is, in the smaller vessel, cook until it is thoroughly done. This way of cooking retains the flavor, juices undiluted with water, and makes it tasteful, delicious, natural.

Whether meat, vegetable or cereal, this way of cooking is decidedly the best. It is economic, costs less for fuel, saves time in the kitchen, and gives the housewife time to look after her domestic affairs while the victuals are cooking. If a fireless cooker is used, one can cook a whole meal in it at the same time, and it can be done while the family is at church, or out strolling around for a half a day, if desired; and the strength of the food is retained, hence economical.

Dishes, holding each article separately, may be provided, so that it retains its osmazome, makes it easier of digestion, tastes natural.

The time of digestion depends upon how the food is cooked. The toughest meat can be thoroughly cooked in the above manner, making it tender, palatable, digestible, nourishing.

Meats may be placed in a hot vessel, seared over the surface, placed in the vessel as above described, then placed in the fireless cooker, and the cooking completed.

The seasoning of foods may be according to the taste of the individual. It is better not to use condiments, except a little salt, on account of their stimulating properties, and the tendency to create an appetite for stronger stimulants; when used with meats, and the meat largely indulged in, the tendency is to cause rheumatism, gout, and kidney troubles.

The food which grows above ground is supposed by some to be most healthful. The elements of the body are found sufficient in the food eaten; a resort to other sources for them, as a rule, is not necessary, as the natural method of replenishing the system, is the better way.

Cold drinks, ice cream, soda water and all such things are injurious, and to be healthy, one should leave them out of the dietary, as a rule.

The object of eating should not be lost sight of, for one should eat to live, and not simply make a business of eating because victuals taste good. Eat to maintain health, to cure disease; to maintain life in the best possible way, so as to be happy and useful to self and the world.

The kind of food we eat, the how we eat it, has everything to do with effects. The best means to promote health, is to use moderation in all things, in all ways.


HOW AND WHAT TO EAT - THE PROBLEM OF THE AGE

We Are the Products of What We Eat.

Without food we could not live. With food we cause many of our ills.

With the proper use of food, we may cure many known conditions called disease.

The various constituents of which the body is composed, are chemical elements. These chemical elements are derived from the food eaten.

The blood is the product of the chemical changes, and is a chemical compound. From these chemical elements every tissue in the body is formed.

A disturbance, or a change in any part of the body, is a chemical change. The disturbance is due to unnatural, chemical changes in some of the elements.

Normal changes produce no inharmony, the life and functions of the body are maintained. These are denominated physiological conditions, natural, harmonious.

The various chemical changes in the body are due to the changes of food eaten. All kinds of foods are composed of special elements, chemically combined, and in exactly definite proportions of chemical equivalents.

Each and every kind of food has its own specific chemical elements, and is named because of these elements being in certain proportions, or equivalents.
The foods derive these elements from the soil, sunshine and the atmosphere. These foods are animal and vegetable. The animal foods derive their elements from the vegetable, but each possessing certain chemical elements in due quantity.

The human body derives its sustenance from these sources; through the control of mind, makes unerring selections for its normal proportions and constituents.

Each article of food consisting of certain chemical elements, there must be more than one article to supply the demand required to maintain the entire physical organism; these must be resupplied at stated times, so as to replenish the waste which is going on.


THE FOOD QUESTION

The body is composed of chemical elements; so is food; when the chemical changes take place normally in the body, there is health, harmony.

The building-up process is carried on by the conversion of food into blood. The blood is the changed product from the food eaten; it is what builds up the various tissues in the body, furnishing every element in due proportion.

No foreign substance is normally admissible; neither is any equivalent added to the normal constituents admissible, without producing chemical changes in the entire. organism, causing inharmony.

Inasmuch as the inharmony is a result of chemical changes, and that through the addition of unnatural chemical elements, and these may be introduced by food containing more or less of the natural elements if taken in excess, is it not reasonable that, when unnatural food is introduced into the system, a process of elimination, or getting rid of the unnatural elements, must take place before the harmony can be restored?

The natural law of exchange prevails in the body, as well as everywhere else in nature - the law of growth and decay - and these are fixed taws, unalterable.

Inasmuch as sickness is a product of chemical changes in the body, and all these changes are due to the ingredients received in the body in the form of food, and that some kinds are compatible at times and incompatible at other times, being accepted without disturbance sometimes and rejected at other times, is it not suggestive of' the causes of many ills being the food eaten?

Certain foods contain more, and some less, of the chemical elements needed in the body; either a deficit or a surplus, causes disturbance. Is it not wisdom to study the elements in food, and to ascertain through physical signs the effects caused by these excesses or deficiencies?

If we know the effects of the kind of food eaten, their chemical changes in the physical structure, and know the symptoms produced, whether it be a diminution of the vital forces in the form of cold, or excessive temperature, can we not use food to supply deficiencies, as well as to eliminate the waste material, and thereby restore the system to a normal or harmonious condition?

This is the problem of the age, and when we shall direct our attention to this subject and learn how to eat, when to eat, and what to eat, under the various conditions of life, we will ward off much sickness.


FOOD

"The daily requirements of food are five ounces of solid nitrates for the muscles, twenty to twenty-one ounces of carbonates for animal heat, two to three per cent of phosphates for bones and for nerve power, with waste and water to give it bulk, and acids to eliminate the effete matter from the blood through the liver and other organs, and this food must be cooked and prepared so as to be eaten with a relish, and not to be too easily digested.

"One needs food in amount of bulk sufficient to produce a proper degree of tension, or distension, else the digestive process cannot go on properly. The normal condition (that condition which has not been perverted by condiment, over feeding, incompatible combinations, foods having too much or too few of the chemical elements needed to supply the demands) will crave, or desire, the kinds of food needed, will be satisfied, thrive, and be healthy when the normal craving is supplied."

Certain kinds of food - say the carbonaceous foods - are producers of gout, rheumatism, and the painfulness of very many diseases.

"Pains are often due to deficiency of the phosphates in the blood, especially from too much and too long mental strain, using up the phosphates."

The lack of phosphates is often the cause of gout. The food for thinking people is of special importance. From these facts, we see that too much of one kind of food and too little of another kind, become the direct causes of diseases; a balanced diet is a necessity which cannot be ignored if we expect to be healthy.

"The kind of food eaten has everything to do with the mental energy of the individual. Excessive carbonaceous foods have a tendency to stupefy the intellect, but if the elements are duly proportioned, the activities will be, as a rule, duly executed without fatigue, and naturally."

Nature has furnished a sufficient variety of foods, containing all of the elements, so that we are without excuse for failing to choose the proper food which contains the elements needed for any and every condition in life, and knowing the elements, of the food eaten, it seems a matter of choice whether we remain well or ill, and if well, to keep well, and if sick, the cause of it, and how to get well; so that disease, is a result of ignorance, or willful violation of law.

Sin is violation of law. Laws which affect the physical organism cannot be violated with impunity. The penalty inevitably follows, sooner or later. It is better to live within the lines which nature has fixed.

Food may become a nourishment or a poison, depending upon the combination of elements it contains, and how proportioned.

A poison is a product of chemical equivalents combined in such a manner, and in such proportions, as to be destructive to life.

Without fully explaining, take alcohol; it is composed of certain chemical equivalents; instance carbon two equivalents, hydrogen six equivalents, and one equivalent of oxygen, and this is the grain alcohol, and it is a poison to a limited degree; take wood alcohol, which has the same equivalents, but in different proportions, and it is a virulent poison. All on account of the number of chemical equivalents of the four cardinal elements - carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, or some one or more of them.

All articles of diet are made up of chemical elements, combined in due proportion, and each and every article of food, and everything that exists, is an example of individuality, chemically combined so that there is a difference, however slight, so as to make every object and plant, vegetable, flower and mineral a distinctive, individual personality.

The atmosphere is only a combination of chemical constituents; the human body is not an exception, but, perhaps, the most intricate and wonderful combination of chemical elements of anything ever created, and subject to more chemical and other changes, than any creature or thing ever made.

These changes are being made every second of time while the life remains. These changes are the product of the chemical combinations of its own composition, and the articles of food ingested, its metabolistic characteristics, and the composition of the ingesta; the circulatory apparatus; the breathing, and its subjection to the various degrees of temperature and climatic influences; mental peculiarities, concentration of thought, and its salutary influence or its deleterious effects, according to the kind of thought and the condition of the individual at the time of thinking.

Recognizing these things to be indisputable, self-evident facts, what is the lesson as regards the effects of the food necessary to the perpetuity of the animal life; its physical necessities, its recuperative powers, its demands in the way of chemicals and their combinations in the nutrient materials so as to keep it in a normal state - one denominated health?

There is no question so full of interest as the welfare of the body in this life, and nothing so nearly concerns us as the care of the body, for it is the present home of the soul, and its habitation is intimately related to the condition of the body, and the whole physical sojourn of the soul, as a temporary dwelling place, during its allotted time, is dependent upon the physical condition of the body.

The three principal chemical elements of food are carbon, nitrogen and phosphate - in a word, carbonates, nitrates and phosphates.

"The carbonates are classed as follows: Butter and lard, fat of all meats, vegetable oils, fine flour, etc.

"The nitrates are: Lean meats, cheese, peas and beans, lean fishes, etc.

"The phosphates are: Shell fishes, lean meats, peas and beans, active fishes, birds, etc.

"Under ordinary circumstances, and in moderate weather, with moderate exercise of muscle and brain, the proper proportions of carbonates, nitrates and phosphates seem to be the average proportions found in unbolted whole wheat meal, viz.: Sixty-five of the carbonates to fifteen of the nitrates, and two of the phosphates to seventeen or eighteen of water and waste; or something more than four times as much of the carbonates as of the nitrates, and two per cent of the phosphates, the amount of water not being of much consequence, as it is supplied as it is demanded and taken as drink, when it is not supplied in the food.

"It will be observed that, after a meal has been partaken of, composed chiefly of fat meat, fine flour, butter, sugar and such things which are largely made up of the carbonates, the person is stupid, or sleepy, and indisposed to exercise either mind or body, for these articles are very little food for the mind or body, muscle or brain, and the torpor will be in direct proportion to the excess of these carbonates eaten, over their normal proportion.

"Such meals are out of proportion, and the consequences are inevitable; for it is separating the important principles which God has joined together, and furnished in every article of appropriate food, in the right proportions, as nourishment for every faculty, and every organ and tissue, in the body.

"If the fat meat is eaten as it was made, mixed with an appropriate amount of lean, and instead of the flour, the bread made of whole wheat, as it was created, and milk used instead of the butter, and sugar taken as intended to be taken, with the vegetables and the delicious fruits, mixed with such elements as the system requires, then the appetite could be indulged to its fullest extent, and no organs or faculties would be pressed and overburdened, while others were not supplied, and every part of the system would be prepared, without stupor or sleepiness, to perform the duties assigned it.

"If we take our food as it was made, with the elements mixed by Infinite Wisdom, we need to use our judgment in preparing it, or cooking it, so as to best develop its flavor, and fit it for digestion; then our appetite would safely direct us, both as to the articles to be eaten, and the amount required. Presuming we know better how to mix and prepare our food, we have spoiled many of the best articles of food and nourishment, and have so perverted our appetites and tastes that they are no longer a guide, in most instances, as far as relates to the use of the articles with which we have interfered.

"The articles most perverted are wheat and milk, the taking out of them the nitrates and phosphates, and using the carbonates only.

"The effect, especially in our cities, is manifest in our liability to inflammatory diseases; in our feebleness and weakness of muscle, for want of the nitrates; in our defective, aching teeth, for want of lime, etc., and in our physical and mental debility, for want of the phosphates; in our ash-colored chlorotic girls for want of iron - all of which elements, except the carbonates, being entirely wanting in butter, and almost all in very nice white flour.”

Some Hints Regarding the Practical Uses of Food.

"The laboring man, in cold weather, needs more carbonaceous food than one who does not exercise, or one who lives in a warm climate.

"The laboring man can best live on foods which contain a large amount of carbon, such as pork, beans, buckwheat cakes or flour cakes, rice, cheese and the sweets, and can digest them with impunity. He needs beans, peas, northern corn bread and starches - articles wholly unsuitable for the one inactive, or living in a southern climate. Nature has so ordained these things, for the articles of food which grow in the northern climates contain more carbon, to a high degree, than in the southern countries, and are naturally adapted to the wants and necessities of' the inhabitants living in their own climate.

"Exposure to cold, without exercise, requires different and more easily digestible articles of food. This holds good in any climate, and should be regarded as a necessity to maintain a normal state of body and mind.

"Laboring men, in northern climates, seldom have stomach troubles arising from indigestion of their food, be it ever so hard of digestion, because it is especially adapted to conditions and circumstances; for the exercise, and necessity of a certain amount of energy to keep up the strength, the system demands the elements in the carbonacious foods to keep up the fires in the furnace - the stomach - to burn the fuel which creates the steam to run the engine - the human body - to resist the forces, the cold, and supply the power."

This suggests the idea that exercise is an essential to strengthen every muscle in the body, whether one is a laborer, or lives a sedentary life.

Activity is an essential, under all conditions, and circumstances.

"Nearly four-fifths of our food is for the production of heat. We need four times as much heat in cold weather as we do in warm weather. If we were to eat the same articles in summer as in winter, and only what our nature required, the stomach and bowels would collapse into one quarter their size, and could not properly carry on their functions."

We need in summer or winter, whether using muscles or brains, or neither, every day, food containing carbonates for the lungs, nitrates for the muscles, and phosphates for the vital powers, but we need them in different proportions according to the temperature in which we live and our habits of life.

These elements are furnished to us by nature, varying in different proportions so as to be adapted to different temperatures and habits; these different elements are so mixed and prepared, the appetite so adjusted to them, they always satisfy the demand, when partaken of in the right combination, the right quantity, and at the right time.

Man should adapt his food to the wants of nature, varying according to circumstances.
We are creatures of habit, our systems have a wonderful power in adapting themselves to circumstances. We do not all die, however thoughtlessly we live, however perversely we continue in the wrong habits to which we have been accustomed; our appetites falling in with our habits; the evils of wrong living are perpetuated.

Nevertheless, it is true that the average amount of health and the average length of life are in exact proportion to the care we take to live in accordance with the laws of our being. What statistics show, our observations confirm.

"What a responsibility these considerations place upon the wives and mothers who have, or ought to have, the direction of these matters!

"To them, in providence, as according to Holy Writ, the injunction emphatically is, 'Keep My commandments, for length of days, and long life and peace shall they add to thee, and to thy family, (who keep the commandments as well).

"While this law was given under the Old Dispensation, it holds good physically and literally, to those who comply with nature's laws, for they have never been annulled or abrogated.

"Stimulating, carbonaceous foods should be avoided in warm weather, and such articles substituted that contain the carbonates in less quantities, in a less concentrated form, combined with such acid fruits and vegetables, such grains which contain less oil and starch, and more of the nitrates and phosphates."

If these changes were made, there would be less mortality, less sickness, less inflammatory disease, decidedly more real happiness, life would be filled with pleasure, rather than as it is now, with dread, disease and, too often, death, simply for the want of knowing how to live naturally.

"With half the trouble, time and study it takes to learn a complicated piece of needlework, or a difficult piece of music, any intelligent housekeeper could learn the dietetic laws, and institute an arrangement adapting them to the mental or muscular employment of her family, so .as to give them the requisite variety of wholesome food for summer, or winter, for work of brain and muscles, thus adding immeasurably to length of life, comfort and health of all."

Food for Old People.

"The fat, good natured old gentleman living on fat beef and pork, white bread and butter, buckwheat cakes and molasses, rice and sugar, till he has lost all mental and physical energy, desires to sit from morning till night in the chimney corner, or a comfortable rocking chair, by a warm register, saying nothing, caring for nothing, is a product of his diet.

"Change his diet, give him fish, beefsteak, potatoes, unbolted wheat bread, or rye and Indian meal, with one half or three-quarters of the Carboniferous articles of his former diet, and in one week he will cheer you with his jokes, and call for his hat and cane and renew his youthful desires to roam the forests, seek an outdoor life of pleasure and happiness.

"Is he lean, cold, restless, and irritable? Give him the fattest meats, with the best of butter, as much sugar and molasses as he desires, not taking away entirely the food for the brain and muscles, but adapting them to circumstances. Perhaps his brain has been overworked; exhaustion and fitful action follow. If so, he needs some form of the phosphates in his food to which he has been accustomed, as oatmeal porridge, or oatmeal cake, with milk, or a diet of fish, pearl barley, or pea soup.

"If his restlessness comes from inactivity of the bowels, he needs fruits and vegetables, unbolted wheat bread, with care to keep his mind at ease and to have such company as is agreeable to him.

"If the irritability comes from too much meat eating, and other phosphatic foods, then keep him on a diet in which the phosphates are deficient, as rice flour bread and butter, giving him other foods adapted to his other conditions and habits. That due regard to these different conditions, and an adaptation of food to conform to them, will very much contribute to comfort and happiness in the declining years of life, there is not a shadow of doubt."

The diet has everything to do with the physical condition, as well as that of the mental state. Humanity is a product of creation, is perpetuated by that which furnishes the elements of the body; kept in harmony, or inharmony, as a result of the elements furnished, from which it derives its nourishment.

"Take, for instance, a babe at its mother's breast, say six or eight months' old; feeble, inactive; teeth coming through the gums already black and defective; flesh soft, flabby, indicating a lack of nerve and muscular fibres; skin wrinkled; face looking aged; bowels discharging a thin, watery excreta; abdomen enlarged; peevish, cross, restless, sleepless, emaciated, voracious appetite, and yet no growth or improvement. Now see what the mother eats. It will be found that she is living on the kind of food which causes all the trouble in the babe.

"Change her diet from fine flour bread, butter, cakes, puddings, sweets of various kinds, to beefsteak, oatmeal or barley porridge, with milk and unbolted wheat bread, grits, pea soup, in which there abounds the phosphates and nitrates, and in a few days an improvement will be seen in the child; but if her health will not admit of such a change, wean the child, and give it the milk of the cow, barley water, oatmeal, and such common sense diet as is suitable for one of its age, and the life of the child will be saved."

Children under these circumstances, and in this condition, lack water, and should be furnished in sufficient quantities to satisfy nature's demands. An excellent way to do this is to use a nursing bottle, fill it with water as warm as it can be comfortably borne in the mouth; sweeten a little like breast milk; at bed time let the child nurse itself full of this water; it will begin to be natural in a few days. Repeat the hot water every night, for it will change the whole life at once. Children often suffer for lack of water, and should be allowed to receive it when desired, at reasonable intervals, remembering that the body is composed of about 70% water. That must be constantly supplied, or something goes wrong in the body.

The expectant mother, even before becoming pregnant, should see to it that she is living on the proper diet which will furnish the material for bone, muscle, brain, and nerve in the child, and she will have healthy offspring.

We are the product of what we eat, our health is absolutely dependent upon it and how we live in other respects; but more upon what we eat, how we eat, the combination and quantity eaten, as well as frequency; we might add, on the condition of our mental state, for the mind has to superintend the functions of the body through the nervous system, all the time.

Inasmuch as grain cannot be developed without the elements of which it is composed are in the soil, so it is in the human being. Unless the elements of which the body is composed are in the food which is eaten, the body cannot be developed. If there be a deficiency of any of the elements in the food, is it not reasonable to conclude that the deficiency will be in the body? This deficiency will be just what it is in the food, and the system will lack the same elements; hence, the rational thing to do is to feed the person on the foods containing the elements needed.

A grain of wheat, as proven by analysis, contains every one of the elements found in the human system.

"Plant a grain of wheat in the soil in which is no lime, phosphorus, or nitrogen; the plant may grow from the carbon, hydrogen, and other elements which it can get from the soil, the air and water, but the grain will not be developed and analysis would show that phosphorus, lime, and nitrogen would be wanting in the plant and grain as it was wanting in the soil.

"Now, as in certain perfectly developed grain, the phosphorus, lime, and nitrogen, which were intended for forming brains, bones and muscles, are not there, is it not certain such grain could not develop brains, and bones, and muscles? For if wheat does not contain phosphorus, lime, and nitrogen, unless the soil in which it grows contains these elements, is it not certain that the human system cannot be developed by food wanting in these, or any other important elements?

"In soil containing as little phosphorus, lime, and nitrogen as are found in superfine flour bread and butter, the grain of wheat would not be there at all; and can a child, for which wheat was made, be developed upon white bread and butter?

"Milk of the cow contains all the elements of the human system, in the right proportion; and if concentrated, or if the stomach were large enough to contain these elements in their diluted state, in sufficient quantity, it would support the life and health of any man indefinitely.

"Primarily, it was intended to develop the calf, and it does develop every part perfectly; but feed the calf on cream alone, or butter, and it would die in two weeks.

"Can butter, then, develop a human being? And yet how many expectant and nursing mothers thoughtlessly provide themselves and their precious little ones with food made up of superfine flour, butter and sugar, without knowing or thinking that sugar or butter have no elements at all for muscles, bone or brains, and white flour very little.

"If they ate nothing else, of course, their children would all die within a month; and as it is, only one-half of all Christendom, and not one-eighth in all heathendom, have vital power to carry them through the first five years."

Those that live have a life of struggle with disease and suffering in just the proportion as they are deprived of food containing elements adapted to develop the whole system and give power to resist and overcome disease.

"The inevitable effects of the diet almost universally adopted is to stimulate all the organs by the undue proportion of carbon, of which the butter, fine flour, and sugar are composed, which form so large a part of our diet, and which render all organs more susceptible to inflammations and other diseases; while the deficiency of the nitrates and the phosphates, weakening the organs and diminishing the powers of life, renders them less able to resist and throw off diseases where they occur.

"Take, for example, the lungs whose duty is to keep up the steam and ‘run the machine’ - the importance of which is seen by the fact, that if for a single moment they refuse to act every operation of the system is suspended and life becomes extinct. Overburdened with work to dispose of the excess amount of fuel imposed upon them, is it strange that they fail, and become diseased?

"Or take the brain and nervous system, which, being overheated with Carboniferous blood, and weakened by want of phosphorous, become sluggish and inactive, headache and neuralgia ensue; or, being nervous and irritable, a thousand ills, real and imaginary, render life a burden.

"Or take the liver, whose office is to eliminate effete elements from the system and assist digestion. Overburdened with work, especially in spring-time, after the system has been loaded for months with Carboniferous food, up to the highest practical point, it becomes sluggish, its functions become weakened, perhaps 'bilious,' jaundiced, causing many other difficulties; all organs being made susceptible to disease, less able to resist it by too much of the carbonates being used during the cold weather, and too little of the nitrates and the phosphates, on account of failure to change the diet to suit the conditions of the climate from cold to warm weather, when the system needs less of the Carboniferous foods, and more fruits and vegetables."

No one can, with accuracy, dictate a diet for all, to apply to all conditions, without individually ascertaining conditions which are produced by irregular diet, too much, too little, mixtures of such kinds as are chemically incompatible.

The facts are: Nature has so arranged the food question that every one may select what is needed for the system under any and all circumstances and conditions, in all latitudes and localities, and climatic conditions, if judgment, intelligence and common sense are exercised; but if these latter are deficient, they should be acquired before running any risk of wrong doing.

The only safe, universal rule to observe in eating may be summed up in a few sentences, and save all the circumlocution generally suggested by food "fadists," and save all the experimentation and formalism of select menus, for this and that condition. We sum it all up in the following terse sentences:

Regulate the diet according to age, climate, vocation, condition, circumstances, object to be accomplished.

The child needs food adapted to its age, and condition of the digestive organs, glandular condition, etc. Milk is the natural diet for babes, or the nearest substitute possible, for its health and growth of all the tissues, and in quantities to suit conditions and necessities.

The tissue elements, during the age of infancy, are found in certain foods, and these are to be furnished in foods which can be digested, and in quantities adapted to the actual necessities in each individual case, considering age, conditions and circumstances; remembering that foods easily digested, and containing the elements necessary to build up the entire system are required.

The growing child of mature age, active and developing muscle and brain, needs food in excess of the one who is less active.

The quiet, sedentary class needs less food than the romping, active class. The changes are more rapid, the waste greater, the necessity of renewal greater, hence more food is needed by the latter class, perhaps oftener partaken of, and the kind of food may be an important consideration.

The digestive organs, their condition as to ability to digest food, should be duly considered, and such food administered as may be easily digested by the young child, and even in the one more advanced in age. The thorough mastication of all kinds of food, for all classes, is of the greatest importance. Food possessing the normal constituents of the body, duly masticated, will not fail to build up the tissues thereof; but if deficient in the normal elements, the ratio of deficiency will be maintained in the product. This is as true as life itself.

The Lord made the body with the dust of the earth elements, and the composition was perfectly adapted to the purpose intended; man has not changed these elements, cannot leave any of them out of his food, if kept up to the normal standard; they cannot be added thereto, without changing the very nature of the elements chemically, and then inharmony is the inevitable result. Living on food containing less of the chemical elements than are required to keep all parts supplied with them, is the cause of disease; or an excess of one or more elements and too great a quantity of food containing the normal elements, require an extra effort of the entire organism to get rid. of them, and enervation is the product.

Health and happiness are as much dependent upon obedience to law, as disease is dependent upon the violation of law. Then, would it not be wise to learn what is required of us to be healthy, and consequently, happy?

"Concentrated foods, as a rule, should be avoided, at least too much of them at a time, and too long continued, as they are deficient in cellulose, the material denominates waste, for this is required to maintain the bulk, so as to prevent the collapse of organs, rendering them incapable of acting on the substance ingested in the process of digestion."

In selecting a diet, it is well to consider the time of digestion of each article, for the following special reason: The secretions which pour into the alimentary tract from the glandular system digest the food.

These secretions are drawn from the blood, through the control of the mind, acting through the nerve filaments which end in the several glands along the digestive tract - the salivary, the stomach, pancreas, liver, etc.

There is a limit to the secretary system in all of these glands; that is, they can only manufacture a certain amount of secretion during a certain time, for the blood contains just so much of the necessary elements at a time, and the replenishing of these elements is from the food eaten.

It requires a certain amount of food containing the proper elements to re-supply the waste which is constantly going on, to keep the blood up to a normal standard. If the supply is being constantly used in functioning the various parts of the body, it must be replenished or it will become exhausted and then the functions of the entire body will be lessened, or unable to perform normal function, and inharmony prevails, which is disease.

The system requires a certain time to rest, and USE its normal supply in rebuilding the tissues, undisturbed, and as it receives its entire supply from the food eaten, it must have time to digest the food before recuperation can take place; therefore, the digestive organs should not be overtaxed, or kept at work too long digesting the food which furnishes the supply.

For instance, a meal is eaten which requires four or five hours to digest, and before that meal is digested, another meal is eaten; the digestive process is unduly continued, as a consequence, excess of labor is laid upon the digestive organs, which means weakness or exhaustion of the secretary organs, as well as the elements of the nervous system.

The point desired to be made in this statement is, that food should be eaten at stated times, not too often, and the system should rest between the meals - that is, the digestive organs should be left to perform their normal function before another meal is taken. Meals repeated too often, or victuals being constantly ingested, cause indigestion and disease, as is seen in all cases of stomach trouble. The proper thing to do is to get meals regularly, at stated intervals, in moderate quantities, properly combined, duly masticated, and containing the elements which will replenish the whole body, for the labor it has to perform, and for the season of the year, so as to comply with natural law. The body will continue to be well and able to perform normal function, under all circumstances and conditions; for these rules, followed, precludes the possibility of being out of harmony, sickly, diseased, and always complaining. We are to blame for a very large percent of our illness and inharmony in our bodies.

The "stuffing" between meals should be avoided, or eating "just a little" between meals should be scrupulously avoided. This is absolutely essential.

The nourishment of the body comes from elements in the food eaten. One may have, in any given menu, a variety of food from various parts of the world, all products of the soil, grown in various latitudes, each containing certain elements, and when eaten, converted into blood, then into tissue, brain, nerve, bone and elements which compose the individual.

Man thus becomes a part of all that is produced by the elements in the soil of every land, and every clime, constituting one brotherhood, made by the same Divine Being we are taught to believe is God, and we know that by faith, for that has been sufficiently demonstrated by His works, as well as by His own revelations to mankind, through the several ages of the world, to individuals who have "walked and talked" with Him.

We shall never be able, in this life, to comprehend the mysteries involved in the study of the things created. It is not necessary for us to know all about the things which God has reserved to Himself; but we should be content to know, individually, what absolutely relates to and concerns ourselves.

To maintain this physical life, keep it in harmony with itself and all of its environments, are the things which directly concern us. When we attempt to transcend the boundary of our sphere, we get out of harmony, and all is confusion and chaos.

Every individual is limited in thought and deed and restricted by law. That law is supreme. Man cannot change it. Every attempt to do so brings disappointment, more or less confusion, discord and inharmony, not only in the individual, but with every relationship of man with the things of this life. From the records of the revelation of the future state this lessens the chances of harmony in the life to come; so that it behooves us to study our limitations, and our special spheres we should occupy, while in the flesh.

While "all things continue as it were from the creation," - so far as creation of the things of the world is concerned - our relationship has changed, because we have violated the physical laws of our being, and brought diseases of all kinds upon ourselves - not satisfied to remain where God placed us.

Our relationship having changed, we have the constant task of physical and mental exertion to maintain - even to a supposed standards degree of health.

When we shall have learned the elementary constituents of our bodies, and how to keep in relationship with the mind which controls it, shall observe and obey the natural laws of our being, we shall "live long on the earth," and be in a state of harmony with ourselves, and our Creator, as well as our environments, and then we shall know what real harmony means, and enjoy it.

If we ate only natural food, drank only pure water, and breathed only pure air, the blood would consist of its normal elements which constitute the solids and juices of the human system. If the blood, in any case, is found to be impure, it is because food, or drink, or air, is not plentifully supplied, or is not pure or natural, and in just the proportion as it is not pure, or natural, or is not supplied in sufficient quantity.

If the blood is impure in consequence of additions to its natural elements, derived from the food, or air, or water, our first duty is to see that the source of impurity is stopped, and then nature will soon remove the impurities.

If it is impure from want of supply of its natural elements, then our duty is also plain, for every necessary element is supplied in natural food, and we have only to use our judgment in selecting the articles which contain such elements as are needed.

It is impossible to purify the blood by the use of articles recommended by ignorant empirics, useless to attempt any purifications except by the common sense expedient of supplying deficient elements, withholding redundant ones, and the purification of the blood itself by oxygenation, by breathing.

Importance of Using Pure Water.

Nature has provided, in two ways, never-failing sources of pure water - in the juices of all natural foods, animal or vegetable, and in the condensation of vapor in the atmosphere. Nothing but oxygen and hydrogen combined can pass through the system to accomplish the various purposes. Every element combined in water must be disposed of by the exeretories, must be a source of embarrassment and disease to the delicate organs whose duty it is to expell all intruding elements from the system.

"The average amount of water in fruit, vegetables, and berries is more than 90%.

"Five-sixths of the food usually eaten consists of water; therefore, using an average amount of vegetable food, we get more water than the natural proportion of that element in the system.

"If our liquid excretions were no greater in proportion than the solid we should need no drink; but that nature intended to supply water to the system through the medium of food is evident because food produced in warm climates, and intended for warm weather, when water is most needed to supply the excretions, contains a much larger proportion of water than food intended for cold climates and cold weather.

"Pure water, which holds in solution the various chemical elements of which the human body is composed, is demanded by the system, as remedial agents, unless these necessary elements are appropriated from the food eaten or are generated in the system itself."

All the elements, of which the body is composed, must be fluidized before the elements can be taken up by the body; water is the natural solvent, hence its abundant supply.

The following tables of combinations of foods will be sufficient for the reader to select the diet needed under all circumstances and conditions.

Regard should be had to the state and condition of the digestive organs, the age, vocation, climate, etc., and there need be no difficulty in finding enough from the various combinations to satisfy every variety of conditions in life, with due regard to quantity, freshness, quality and the manner of eating; there should be no incompatibilities as to the choice of foods.

If the diet is properly combined, eaten in proper quantities, at proper intervals and properly masticated, there can be no reason for any bad effects or sickness caused by diet, nor any difficulty regarding the recovery from the effects of errors in diet, if the tables are studied with a view to combine the foods needed, according to the suggestions named.

Having gone carefully through the various works on Dietetics, comparing them with each other and with themselves, we find many things in common among all of them, but we are indebted more to "The Christian System of Food Chemistry," and to the Health Culture Co., Passaic, New Jersey, for their book, by Alfred Andrews, M. D. (New York address of the company is 1133 Broadway, N. Y.), for many ideas regarding the food question. If we have quoted from them anything for which due credit has not been given, it is wholly unintentional.

We fully endorse much of what the foregoing authors have said. All who desire further light on the food question will find their system fully up-to-date, and deserve a careful study to fully comprehend the subject, for we regard the food problem worthy the closest study of anything pertaining to health, and that when fully understood, in all of its relationship, disease will be less prevalent, and recoveries therefrom more easily brought about.

What we have said along these lines will serve, we hope, as an index to the reader, to the diet question, and create a more earnest desire to know some of the fundamental principles of right living, save suffering humanity from much of the consequences which now prevail, all over the country, largely due to being ignorant of a few fundamental principles regarding the relation health sustains to a proper, well regulated dietary in families, and everywhere else, almost universally.

Recognizing the necessity of food containing the proper elements of nutrition, we submit the following table for convenience in selecting the desired articles for general and special diet for all conditions. The proportion of elements are conveniently arranged, the proper selection may be made, containing the proper elements, in the quantities needed.

If the nervous system is freed from undue pressure, the digestive organs are normal, the proper kind, arid quantity, of food eaten at the proper intervals, and other conditions met, and corrected, there will be nothing to prevent normal results, health, peace, happiness, and long life.

Page 441 - Table Showing the Chemical Constituents of Food.

Page 442 - Table Showing the Chemical Constituents of Food. (continued)


A FEW IDEAS ON THE QUESTION OF DIET

Recipe for Making Natural Bread.

Bread, light, sweet, delicious, and eminently wholesome, may be made by mixing good unbolted wheat flour meal with cold water, making it into a paste of proper; consistency, which can only be determined by experiments, pouring or dropping it quickly into heated pan, or pans - the pan must be sizzling hot - with concave departments, as a Gem Pan, and placing it into a hot oven, and baking as quickly as possible without burning.

The heat of the oven and the pan suddenly coagulates the gluten of the outside, which retains the steam formed within, and each particle of water being interspersed with a particle of flour, and expanded into steam, separates the particles into cells, and being retained by the gluten, which is abundant in this natural flour, till it is cooked, the mass remains porous and digestible, and, containing no carbonic acid gas, is wholesome when eaten immediately, and of course equally so on becoming cold.

But for family bread, if not eaten till it has stood in pure air till the carbonic acid gas in the cells is exchanged for the oxygen of the air, there is no important objection to bread made of good unbolted flour meal with fresh yeast. It contains all the elements necessary for feeding the muscles and brains, and for producing all the fat and animal heat required, and contains no materials essentially deleterious; and bread thus made from super-fine flour is only negatively deleterious, having lost its food for muscles and brains; and it need not, therefore, be discarded if at the same meal these elements are supplied in lean meat, fish or cheese, or other food containing similar elements; but if eaten with butter or sugar only, and nothing else, would soon make of us bloated and stupid idiots.

These ideas regarding bread are worthy of special consideration to all. Wheat contains all of the elements of the human body, in the proper proportion, and when prepared so as to be digested, is one of the essential articles of diet.

There are several ways of making bread which is nutritious, palatable. Whole-wheat flour gems are wholesome and nutritious, even made with yeast, if properly baked, and the "shortening" left out. A good way to serve the light bread made of yeast is to bake it for an hour and a half, slowly, thoroughly; let it get cold in the, open air, then cut it in slices about an inch thick, then place it in a stove and heat it slowly, drying it out, making it crisp clear through, making the Zweibach, which is a deep yellow when baked the second time. Zweibach means a second baking. Bread baked in this way will keep indefinitely, and will be suitable for eating when gas forms in the stomach from eating other bread. It may be slightly moistened with warm water; but should always be thoroughly masticated when eaten, as every other food should be.


CLASSIFICATION OF FOODS

"The Carbohydrates - Foods containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

"The Carbohydrates are: Wheat, corn, rye, rice, barley, oats, sugar, syrup, tapioca, honey, white and sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkin, bananas, grapes, persimmons, dates, raisins, peanuts, figs, pignolia nuts, chestnuts, chocolate.

"The Fats are: Butter, milk, cream, cheese, almonds, pignolia nuts, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, filberts, cocoanuts, chocolate, red meat.

"The Proteids are: Eggs, milk, cheese, beans (dried), peas (dried), lentils (dried), wheat bran, peanuts, pignolia nuts, red meat, poultry, fish.

"Mineral Salts are: Lettuce, celery, string beans, dandelion, green peas, turnip tops, beet tops, radish tops, romaine, watercress, wheat bran.

"The food substances, which contain nitrogen, are commonly called proteids. All food substances which contain nitrogen in such combinations are available for assimilation in the human body. The proteids in the human body are formed from proteids taken from the foods which contain the element nitrogen."

The blood and tissue of the body contain certain mineral salts, without which life could not exist, and they are drawn from the food which contains them, through the process of digestion and assimilation.

"The human body needs a certain amount of mineral salts, especially of the phosphates of lime, of which the bones are made, but the salts that need to be supplied daily in the food are small, because the salts are not rapidly consumed as are other elements of nutrition."

The importance of properly combining foods will be apparent, when it is considered along scientific lines; for when acids and alkalies are combined, a chemical action takes place, and if they completely neutralize each other there is no special action, but if not completely neutralized the excess of either is left, and it affects tissue accordingly - the acids contract tissue, and the alkalies disintegrate, or destroy tissue.

Foods are acted upon the same way; for if incompatibles are mixed together, chemical changes take place, frequently with considerable activity, forming gas, and producing unnatural consequences deleterious to comfort and health, often causing disease. These are especially important considerations for all who are interested in health, and every one should consider this matter with the solemnity and earnestness the subject of health and happiness demands.

There are three fundamental laws which govern all forms of animal life, and may be classified under the following headings:

Nutrition - The most important problem in life.

Motion - A special manifestation of life.

Oxydation - Without which the blood could not be purified.

If our food is properly selected, combined and proportioned it will build the body to its normal weight and energy, the increased vitality will demand increased exercise, this will cause deep breathing and this will complete the cycle necessary for the purification of the blood.

The selection, combination and proportion are essential, for the better the selection the better will be the results in development of animal tissue.

The nearer the combination approaches to the natural law of combination, the more perfect will be the digestion and the assimilation.

The nearer the proportion is complied with, the more harmonious will be the combination and the less will be the resistance, the less waste of energy to prepare it for assimilation.

In order to obtain the highest efficiency from food, it must be eaten with regard to age, climate and labor, exercise or activity.

The growing child needs more of the structural material than the older person, such as lime, found in cereals and starchy foods, so as to build up bone and teeth, cartilage, etc., while the middle aged person needs but little lime, because the bones are already formed-just enough to maintain repairs - and the aged needs practically none.

We should select and proportion our food according to temperature of our surroundings, climate, season. Heat and energy being convertible terms, there should be care in selecting the food which has the proper chemicals for the different ages, and the time of year, temperature; for nature has supplied the human family with foods for all conditions, whether warm or cold weather prevails, and the kinds of food for each season, perfectly adapted to humanity.

Every individual needs food which suits climatic influences, for eating is the process of making energy, while activity or work is the process of expending energy, so, these two processes balance and the nearer we balance them the stronger will become both the mental and the physical condition.

Health is the Natural Condition of All.

The nearer we live according to natural laws, the more certain will we be healthy; the more naturally will our system perform its functions.

If, while in a normal condition, one will observe the natural laws of combination of food, properly proportioning them, properly masticating them, health will continue; and if, in abnormal conditions, health will soon assert itself, and disease will have no place in the body.

The effects of wrong combinations of food manifest themselves in quite a variety of symptoms, depending very much upon the conditions of the individual, the idiosyncrasy, temperament, mental state, exercise, age, climate and the character of the combination, quantity, quality, vocation, etc.

Environments, attractions, suggestions, personal interest influence the mind, and the mental state has everything to do in controlling the functions of every organ; therefore, these become factors, not only in our make-up, but determine, to a very great extent, the physical condition of the individual.

The mind, through nerve filaments, regulates the kind, character and quantity of the secretions which enter into, control and digest the food.

This is the most important function of the nervous system, because nutrition can only be supplied from the digested products of food and without nutrition the body would soon become food for worms and crumble into dust.

To sum the whole subject up into one sentence: Mind, through nerve filaments controls every function of every organ in the body.

The statement that the nervous system being free from origin to terminus, the circulation of the blood being permitted, unmolested, to flow normally, and the breathing being full and free, so as to expand every air-cell, that the blood may receive its due proportion of oxygen, at all times, then proper food, in proper combinations, in the proper quantity, taken at proper intervals, with due regard to habits, natural habits and elimination, with proper sleep and rest, make up the sum total of conditions conducive to health, and a life of pleasure and happiness, as well as of usefulness.

By exercising the proper amount of common sense in caring for the body, one should have but little trouble, scarcely a pain, and no sickness whatever.

Barring accident, the mental strain, looking after the welfare of others, our own anxieties about financial matters - generally unnecessary, beyond the limits of duty in providing for the necessities of life - we should be in a state of harmony at all times. Life would then flow as the gentle stream, sleep would be sweet and restful, we would be happy and those around us would likewise rejoice with us. Our anxieties and excesses cause the greater part of our miseries. Will humanity ever learn to do right, and to be happy?

Some of the Consequences of Overfeeding.

As stated elsewhere, crowding the alimentary canal with food produces undue pressure upon the stomach walls, and as a consequence, becomes the main factor in nerve and blood pressure, thereby interfering with their function; often arresting glandular secretion, thus interfering with the process of digestion.

That state of affairs is the cause of the formation of gas, and all of the evils which ensue as a consequence. Further on, in the alimentary canal, the accumulation of refuse, especially in the colon, becomes a source of decomposition, causing irritation, inflammation, such as proctitis, appendicitis, peritonitis, inflammation of the kidneys, congestion and inflammation of the liver and adjacent organs.

Errors in diet, eating the wrong foods, eating too much, wrong combinations, and failing to properly masticate it, and to thoroughly mix it with the saliva, starts up a combination of conditions which changes the whole course of affairs from a normal to an abnormal, or a diseased state, which comes from a want of understanding of how to eat, and what to eat, and how much to eat.

Contracted muscles, impeded venous circulation, and nerve pressure, may be due to errors in diet, and results may become serious. Under such circumstances and conditions, a change in diet may not be sufficient, until the removal of the pressure caused thereby, then right living should be all that is necessary to continue healthy.

Neuropathy is not a one-sided science, but embraces and includes all that is necessary to restore harmony throughout the entire body.

The conditions are to be met, as we find them, and the causes removed, as far as possible, and such means instituted as are indicated, to restore one who is diseased to health. No one means or measure ever devised meets every condition in our experience, as patients come to us: for treatment; but every case, although similar in some respects, the difference may be such, that an entirely different course of treatment may have to be instituted.

The causes which produced the conditions existing in certain cases may have passed away, and results may have become complicated; secondary conditions may have arisen, and these may be the only conditions which demand attention; and they removed, the case may be cured without considering the first cause; hence, the removal of causes do not always cure the patient. Conditions are to be met, and whatever is producing the conditions found are the things which demand our attention as physicians.

If one has typhoid fever, caused by effects of malaria, the removal of the malaria will not cure the fever. The question to consider is, what are the conditions now existing? These are the things which concern the physician. Change the present conditions; restore the various organs involved to their normal state, and nature will be satisfied, and the patient will get well.

The Summing-up About Dietetics.

With due regard to what has been said about dietetics, combination of foods, compatibles and incompatibles, this diet for this diseased condition, and that for another condition, and you should eat this, and another should eat that, is all right under certain conditions, if a due regard for the proportion of chemical elements is taken into consideration.

One person may have strong digestive organs and be, able to digest almost all kinds of food, and another may have weak digestive organs, being unable to digest but very few kinds, even in small quantities; to feed both on the same food would be wrong, for one would thrive while, the other would emaciate.

The kind of food one should eat depends upon age, temperament, season, vocation, condition. The quantity, and the frequency are also questions for consideration.

The condition of the digestive apparatus has more to do than anything else in the adaptability of food to the individual wants of the person.

The condition of the glandular system is to be taken into account, for these are the organs which prepare the elements which digest the food. Last of all, the condition of the nervous system is the most important, for it controls the selection of elements from the blood, as well as the entire function of the glands, which manufacture or draw from the blood the chemical elements in the several departments of the alimentary canal, preparing, in each department, the secretions essential to properly supply the elements necessary in special departments for the next division of the digestive apparatus.

It is a matter of great importance, on the part of the physician, to not advise just the kind of food which each individual should have, without taking into consideration the foregoing conditions of the several functionaries connected with the digestive organs, individualities, circumstances, idiosyncrasies, etc.

Some individuals need certain elements, and others need elements of quite different compounds, to supply the kind which make up the normal constituents and which supply deficiencies. The mixed diet, if it contains the proper elements needed, in a given case, is the one to recommend. On the other hand, if there be found one article of diet which contains the element needed, it should be recommended. If the person is emaciated, several kinds of food may be necessary to supply the normal elements needed. If one is inclined to take on flesh or fat, the nitrogenous foods are to be recommended, using less of the foods which contain the carbonaceous elements. If there be an excess of any of the normal elements, caused by too rich a diet, these should be abandoned and the opposite recommended, or the patient use a mono-diet until elimination takes place, or the excess of waste is effected. These are conditions which demand special attention.

We copy the following tables of digestive harmonies from the Eugene Christian "School of Applied Food Chemistry":

A judicious study will enable the student to make proper combinations for conditions found.

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TUBERCULOSIS - COMMONLY CALLED CONSUMPTION

This disease is the result of exhausted nerve power, hence impediment to blood circulation, especially venous and capillary circulation, resulting in an accumulation of uric acid and other chemical constituents - a result of nerve pressure.

The Tuberculi Bacillus is a vegetable germ and is never found in healthy tissue. The animal tissue absorbs carbon which lowers the tonicity of its pabulum, while animal microbes absorb oxygen and give off carbon, and so increase the toxins around them. The bacillus seems to liquify the sputum and make it easier to cough up. Those having the greatest number of bacilli are those who recover the quickest.

The bacillus is not an invader, does not cause the disease, but is a vegetable scavenger, as are all bacilli. If he was a true invader, then we would all have disease, because we breathe into the lungs thousands of the vegetable germs every windy day we are out.

Some "Bug-hunter," with receding chin and forehead, is all the time scaring the world into fits over the contagiousness of consumption. It is merely a phantom. There is nothing contagious about it. It results from low nerve power and the retention of toxic poison within the blood, resulting from too rich a diet, and impeded venous circulation.

The bacillus is not an adequate cause, because the disease was in the blood before any bacillus was in the sputa, or anywhere else in the body.

The pulse reveals a great fact regarding the impediment to the circulation of the blood, for if the pulse is noted it will be found to be as if choked, obstructed in its onward flow, and by tracing it backward and forward it will feel as if rolling under our fingers, and we find it cord-like and full between beats.

The pulsation does not move the blood forward in a natural way, but like a choked person swallows - very often failing to move the obstruction forward in the oesophagus. We not only find arterial pressure, but a water-logged condition of the heart - a labored condition of the heart and a weakened nerve power. It has been noticed that in the blood there were shreds of great sections of dead capillaries, with the obstructions lodged in them, and often a section with the obstruction bursting out.

The condition of consumption, then, is toxic blood the formation of crystals and concretions in the blood; mechanical obstruction in the capillaries; arterioles; and even the arterial walls; which obstructions may finally extend to the heart valves and other cardiac tissues; obstructed parts of the skin; glandular derangements. A weak pulse shows the central nerve power is also weak and unable to perform its natural functions. Natural nerve power is essential to the utmost degree in nutrition.

Nerve irritations from toxins in the blood from too rich a diet is the principal cause of prolonged closure of the pores of the skin. These toxic matters, principally uric acid and urates, crystallize in the blood and are carried by the force of the arterial current into the capillaries and lodged in their formative stage, while they are small, and as the blood behind distends the capillary to its utmost, the crystal continues to form, until it may be twenty times the size of the capillary.

During the relaxation of the capillary, the blood is forced around the crystal, leaving fine shreds of blood fibrin disposed in all directions throughout the structure of the crystals. During the nervous contracture of the muscular structure around the capillaries, the crystals cut through or pierce the capillary walls and nerves, and give rise to the second stage of consumption - the formation of crystals in the blood.

Epsom salts dissolve the acid crystals in the blood. The crystals of the urates are the essential things to get rid of in the treatment of tuberculosis. This must be done before the diet can be of any service in building up the system. Pure blood is the essential in the cure of consumption.

There should be a determined zeal in the treatment, and persisted in until the toxic poisons are neutralized, and ten or more sponge baths may be given during the 24 hours, as follows: The application of warm Epsom salts water over the upper part of the chest and neck relieves a cough more than any medicine can. It relieves cough by lessening the amount of bronchial secretions, by lessening the toxicity of what is secreted.

We sponge a patient as he lies in bed until he goes to sleep; generally one-fourth to one-half hour's bathing will dissolve the urates in the dermal and sub-dermal tissues and put him to sleep. Then fold the towel the sponging was done with and lay it over his breast and neck and tuck it under his arms and round his neck and shoulders; cover him up warm and let him sleep as long as he can, while you rest.

He will sleep until the blood forces more urates into the capillaries to begin the torture anew. As soon as he wakes begin the bath again and continue till he sleeps; apply the cloth over the lungs, as before, and let him sleep and you rest, and so on all day and all night. A day's work bathing a patient with Epsom salts water saves his life and establishes the truth of what the disease is and what will cure it, and all other troubles that result from uric acid poisonings.

After all hope has gone and the physician has given up in despair, then is the golden opportunity for this treatment to show what can be done, and inspire hope, and fill the disconsolate sufferer with a bright anticipation of being well again, and the repetition of the treatment with the warm Epsom salts water will extort from the patient many times a day his gratitude, and he will desire his baths as the seeming cough decreases.

Food should be a primary consideration after the toxins are neutralized, to build up the waste caused by the lack of elements in the blood, caused by the nerve exhaustion and excessive loss through pus expectoration and mal-assimilation of food eaten. Be careful not to feed the patient too much at any time.


NERVE WASTE

That all functions of the body are expressed through the nervous system is a conceded fact, and that every muscle and organ in the body is directly controlled at nerve endings, is a fact indisputable.

The nervous system, consisting of definite chemical elements, is in that regard, like every other tissue and muscle and organ; and that all motion requires force or power, it follows that the very expression of the nervous system in any part of the body requires a certain force to execute function.

It is also a fact that nerves cannot express themselves unless possessed with their normal chemical elements, and that their action reduces the chemical elements is self-evident; therefore, undue or excessive use of the nervous system in functioning any organ, reduces nerve power through expenditure of its elements.

As an illustration of what we mean, and we wish to be understood in this matter, we will consider the functioning of the eye.

There are six extrinsic muscles of each eye which control its action. The various movements of the eyeballs are made by the contracture of one or more, or perhaps, at times, all of them, and these muscles are supplied by nerves ending in them, hence their action causes nerve-waste.

The function called accommodation is controlled by the muscles which surround the lens, called ciliary muscles. They possess two sets of fibres, longitudinal and circular fibres, and the contracture of these muscles control the shape of the lens, hence perform that function called accommodation. Accommodation requires more nerve force, or power, to function than any other set of muscles in the body, hence exhaust the nerve elements faster, and cause more nerve waste to function them.

Any disease may be caused by nerve exhaustion, therefore diseases cannot be cured until the nerve elements are restored. This is done by a rest of functioning and supplying the needed elements used in functioning them.

The deficiency of elements in the nervous system, caused by their over use in any part of the body, is really the thing denominated nerve waste.

If the functioning of any organ is excessive, it requires more nerve power, and if the entire system is over-exercised general nerve exhaustion ensues. This condition may also result from too much thought, or deficiency of food, or food lacking the elements necessary to supply the deficiency, or interference of nerve function in the normal functioning of the body.

The matter seems so easily understood that we shall leave the reader to gather the facts and grasp the ideas from studying the pages of this book.


WHAT SOMETIMES OCCURS FROM THE IMPACTION OF THE COLON

The colon is the receptacle of the refuse of the alimentary canal. It is a tube about five feet in length, in the adult, beginning at the end of the small intestine, at which place the blind pouch called the caecum begins, and is divided into four parts - the ascending, transverse, descending colon and the sigmoid flexure.

The ascending colon extends from the caecum upward on the right side of the abdominal cavity to the under surface of the liver, where it turns to the left, forming the hepatic flexure. The transverse colon crosses the abdomen from right to left to the lower end of the spleen, where it curves downward, forming the splenic flexure. The descending colon passes downward along the outer border of the left kidney, then inward along the outer border of the psoas muscle to the crest of the ilium, where it terminates in the sigmoid flexure. The latter is curved like an f, first upward and forward, then downward into a loop, which terminates in the rectum, opposite the left sacroiliac symphasis.

The colon being the receptacle of the refuse of the alimentary canal, and this refuse being a foreign substance en route through it to be discharged, it becomes essential, in the very nature of things, to see to it that this organ be kept in a normal condition at all times, because the retention of the contents of the colon produces effects of very serious consequences, if not attended to, should nature fail to perform this duty.

One or more copious actions of the bowels should take Place daily. If the evacuations of the contents of the bowel, be interrupted from neglect on the part of the individual, and a habit of neglect formed, the result is constipation. That is a condition of inactivity of the bowels, the deleterious consequences of which are incalculable.

The neglect of proper mastication, eating improper quantities of food, and the wrong combinations, are prime factors causing indigestion, hence this matter should demand careful and strict attention.

The retention of the refuse in the colon, too long, causes undue pressure upon its walls, expanding them unnaturally, stretching their muscular coats, thus interfering with the circulation of the blood and the secretary organs in its walls, as well as interrupts the function of the terminal nerve filaments, and pain or disease follows.

The accumulation may be so great that the pressure is extended to the pancreas, thence to the stomach, thence to the diaphragm, thence against the lungs, thence the heart, until all of the organs named may be involved.

The debris may become the habitation of bacteria, due to the decomposition and pustular exudate from the mucous membrane of the colon itself.

The decomposition of the feces furnishes a habitation for the bacteria which accumulate, chemically converting the mucous into pus. Bacteria burrows where there is pus, hence they become numerous, especially along the inner wall of the colon, where the mucous secretions and the feces unite to form the poison in which they live; and as this substance decomposes the mucous membrane, the bacteria burrow in it, they begin to burrow in the mucous membrane, eat into the intestinal wall itself, and start up a process which may be destructive to the tissue, to the extent that inflammation ensues. The generation of gas (and absorption thereof into the system) produces toxemia, which affects the entire system, causing any number of ailments, or any kind of disease; the results are many times fatal, and the doctor may never have known the cause of death.

The accumulation of feces in the colon is so often neglected, the ordinary diagnostician, as a rule, knows so little about the true cause of disease that this special part of the anatomy is shamefully neglected, and thousands of people are hurried to an untimely death, because of the woeful ignorance of the physician.

Almost every case of appendicitis can be traced to the effects of constipation, which is, almost invariably, caused by neglect on the part of patient, the impaction begins gradually, continues persistently, until accumulation becomes a source of irritation, inflammation, not only of the colon itself, but surrounding organs are disturbed by the undue pressure, and this may lead to complications which will not yield to any treatment until the contents of the colon are removed.

The irrigation of the colon by the use of a high enema tube, or the modern apparatus called the J. B. L. Cascade, is used. There are numerous apparatus which act admirably in that regard, and they should have a place in the bath room of every family in the land, and be used ad libitum.

The rubber tube, called the colon tube, attached to an ordinary fountain syringe, affords a convenient means where the more expensive apparatus cannot be afforded. By all means use something that will flush the colon so as to free the system from the accumulation and relieve the pressure from the surrounding organs, and thus cure the patient of many bad ills, not curable by any other means known.


THE DIVISIONS OF THE SPINAL COLUMN

In order to understand the functions of the nervous system as expressed by the leashes which emanate from the spinal foramina (the holes in the bony structure), it is necessary to understand the divisions of the spinal column. It will be understood that the spinal nervous; system consists of a large bundle of nerves emanating from the brain, passing through the great foramen called the foramen magnum at the base of the skull, down through the spinal column, and distributed to all parts of the body, consisting of nerve filaments, ending in muscular structure,, performing their functions at their endings.

The first division of the spinal column is in the upper portion of the cervical vertebrae, embracing the atlas, axis and the two next succeeding cervical vertebrae. From the foramina in this region emanate the nerve filaments denominated the vaso-motor nervous system, which controls, the action of the muscular fibers surrounding the arterial system, and supplying the heart, the lungs, the liver, spleen, pancreas, diaphragm and all the internal viscera, ending in and constituting the abdominal brain, or solar plexus.

The student should remember that this is the most important division of the nervous system. From this locality we influence the circulation of all the fluids of the body,. controlling the heart's action, arterial and capillary circulation, the entire breathing apparatus, modifying the action of the heart, the circulation of the fluids of the body and is one of the most important centers of physical manipulatory work in the application of the science of Neuropathy.

Manipulations at this part of the cervical area demand our first and special attention in the treatment of all conditions wherein the circulation of the fluids of the body are involved.

Here we begin manipulations for all conditions of the head, neck and chest, to influence the functions of the entire body.

Whether the individual has inflammation in the head, neck, or anywhere in the body, due to the impediment of the circulation of the blood, this portion of the body should receive the first attention.

The second division of the cervical vertebrae consists of the fourth, fifth, sixth and the seventh, including the first dorsal vertebra, constituting the brachial plexus. From this plexus we have the anterior, posterior and outer cords, which constitute the three grand divisions of the brachial plexus. The brachial plexus functions the lower cervical vertebrae, the anterior and posterior thoracic vertebrae, the arms, fore arms, wrists and hands with nerve influence. All diseases having their origin in a disturbance of the brachial plexus are relieved by the treatment of this area.

The third division of the spinal column embraces the four upper dorsal vertebrae. Leashes of nerves emanating from the foramina of these vertebrae, are distributed to the intercostal muscles, pectoral muscles, serrati muscles, and control the size of the chest; hence manipulations in this part of the dorsal area influence the nervous system in its control of the functions of the muscular system surrounding the upper chest walls, and should be considered when the internal viscera is involved in that condition called disease; whether of the lungs, the heart, or any portion of the internal viscera of the thorax.

The fourth division of the spinal column, beginning at the fifth dorsal and ending at the twelfth, constitutes the splanchnic nervous system. From the fifth dorsal the first grand division of this system is given off, and is named the greater splanchnic nerve, and ends in the solar plexus. The second division of the splanchnic nervous system emanates from the sixth, seventh and eighth dorsal, and constitutes the middle splanchnic nervous system, and controls the functions of the digestive apparatus very largely. The third division of the splanchnic nervous system, emanating from the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth dorsal vertebrae, controls the functions of the kidneys, and is called the renal splanchnic. Manipulations or adjustments in this area control the organs in which this system of nerves ends.

The fifth division of the spinal column, beginning at the first lumbar, and ending at the fifth, articulating with the sacrum, constitutes what is known as the lumbar area. From these vertebrae emanate leashes of nerves which control important organs in the body, the most important of which are the procreative. The upper portion of the lumbar area influences, through the nerves emanating therefrom, the peristalsis of the lower bowel, controlling the action of the colon, with its flexures, and influencing the action of the small intestine, thus regulating the movements of the bowels. The second and third lumbar influence the genital organs, controlling their functions through the genito-crural leashes of nerves. From the third lumbar the control of the action of the abdominal muscles is exerted. The fourth and fifth lumbar control the muscular structure, the pelvic region and the muscles of the lower limbs. The nerves emanating from the sacrum constitute the greater portion of the great sciatic nerve, and control the action of the sphincter muscles of the lower outlets of the body. The coccygeal nerves control the actions of the rectum and muscles connected therewith, and are the ending of the great sympathetic nervous system, known as the Ganglion of Impar.

The sympathetic nervous system, which controls the entire spinal nervous system, has its origin in the Ganglion of Ribes, and ends, as stated, in the Ganglion of Impar, on the front and lower end of the coccyx.