¥ 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 
 
 COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 
 
 No registration of title of this book 
 as a preliminary to copyright protec- 
 tion has been found. 
 
 DEC 10 1909 
 
 Forwarded to Order Division 
 
 (Date) 
 
 (Apr. 5, 1901—5,000.) 
 
 Glass — _ 
 
 Book-- 
 
FOR 
 
 ttty? (Cur? flf ItBHtH? 
 
 BY 
 
 Sr. Hinia Sitrfteiii l[a22arfc 
 
 
 SEATTLE, U. S. A. 
 HARRISON PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 1908 
 
.,■;' 
 
 V V 
 
 Copyright, 1908, by 
 LINDA BURFIELD HAZZARD 
 
 - 
 
 DEC 10 S9G9 
 

 This Volume 
 
 is dedicated to the Memory of 
 my Father, 
 
 ^Montgomery Burfield 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction .._.. 11 
 
 Chapter I — Food and Disease 21 
 
 Chapter II — Rest and Elimination 30 
 
 Chapter III — Symptoms * 42 
 
 Chapter IV — Duration of Fast 55 
 
 Chapter V — Death in the Fast 63 
 
 Chapter VI — Mental and Bodily Reaction 69 
 
 Chapter VII — Sexual Disease and the Fast 79 
 
 Chapter VIII — The Enema 85 
 
 Chapter IX — Children in the Fast 92 
 
 Chapter X—Diet ...101 
 
 Chapter XI — Bathing and Fresh Air 114 
 
 Chapter XII — Medical Dogmas .122 
 
 Chapter XIII — Cases Treated by Fasting 129 
 
 Chapter XIV— Criticism . 167 
 
 Chapter XV — Conclusion 176 
 
KppttxU ta (Brabtng; Sjimg^r ta Seaire. 
 GIrabtng ta it?b*r aattafiri*; but Iteatre ta 
 rHtrfirti fallen Want ta auppltrti. 
 
 Eating imtfj0iti S?ttttg?r, nr patttertng 
 tu Appetite at ttf* txpmB? of Stg^attott. 
 utak*a !ta*aae tnrfritabb. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In presenting the following pages, I 
 acknowledge my debt to Dr. E. H. Dewey, 
 now deceased, to whose encouragement, 
 example, and guidance I owe my early 
 training and my later progress in the 
 methods set forth. I believe that Dr. 
 Dewey discovered many things in connec- 
 tion with the natural treatment of disease 
 the true value of which perhaps he did 
 not appreciate. I believe, too, that in the 
 twelve years that have gone since I began 
 my own work along these lines I have as- 
 certained and proved many things that he 
 failed to put to the test. 
 
 Truth is the result of the study of 
 Nature by her own light, and we must 
 seek for knowledge where we may expect 
 to find it. It is difficult for the rays of 
 truth to penetrate a mind filled with the 
 opinions of others; and it is well to re- 
 member that knowledge is obtained not al- 
 ii 
 
12 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 ways by following prescribed paths or by 
 accepting the dicta of recognized au- 
 thorities. 
 
 Self-conceit, credulity, and skepticism 
 are said to go hand in hand; and candor 
 compels the remark that these graces are 
 not confined to the ignorant or to the 
 uneducated. If a man be a skeptic, he 
 can but mean that certain things do not 
 exist relatively to his own knowledge; 
 but no one can deny the possibility of the 
 existence of that which he cannot har- 
 monize with his accepted opinions, or of 
 which he is ignorant. Should he do so, 
 the conclusion holds that he is just as 
 credulous as the man who believes without 
 discrimination. 
 
 When an extraordinary fact, a fact be- 
 yond its own experience, is presented to a 
 mind vicariously moulded, more often 
 than not it is rejected as impossible or as 
 the result of disordered physical condi- 
 tions. In these circumstances even the 
 testimony of the senses is repudiated, and 
 that of credible witnesses is frequently 
 imputed to base motives. 
 
 Popular belief and medical teaching 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 13 
 
 lead to the conclusion that abstinence from 
 food for ten or twelve days will result in 
 starvation and death. This is easily re- 
 futed. On my lists are considerably over 
 one thousand instances of continuous fasts 
 whose limits extend from ten to seventy- 
 five days. While I esteem and consider 
 but one cause and but one disease, the 
 symptoms expressed in this long roll cover 
 virtually the whole of medical pathology; 
 and in twelve years only eleven patients 
 have died while under my care. Each of 
 these deaths has proved an occasion for 
 persecution, malignment, prosecution, and 
 injury; and from each and every case 
 both I and the method have emerged 
 triumphant, the autopsy showing organic 
 disease, and that death was inevitable. 
 
 No one knows better than the thinking 
 members of the medical profession that 
 the time is at hand when prevention rather 
 than cure will be the key-note of therapeu- 
 tics. Organization on labor-union stand- 
 ards heralds the fact that medicine is 
 fighting for its life, while dissensions 
 within its ranks are evidenced daily. 
 Nature, through Nature's governing law, 
 
14 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 restores and rebuilds to limits unknown 
 to empirics, and dosage does not and 
 cannot assist her, but, on the contrary, is 
 a detriment. Boasted antiseptics are only 
 tissue destroyers, and drugs are poisons 
 more or less active in effect. Without 
 food, blood is purified and sores are 
 healed; without food, the processes of 
 the body are carried on for a time with 
 ease, while relaxation, rest, and recupera- 
 tion occur. Even the phenomena of gesta- 
 tion progress perfectly during the fast, 
 and I am able to present one instance of a 
 woman who while pregnant underwent a 
 fast of six weeks, and gave birth at term 
 to a healthy nine-pound boy. 
 
 The wisdom of medicine does not consist 
 in a knowledge of Nature, but in that 
 which accepted authorities have imagined 
 Nature to be. The true physician has a 
 knowledge of his own, not a system bor- 
 rowed from books or from man's dead 
 body. What others may teach should be 
 simply an aid in the search, but he who 
 finds a part of the human fabric diseased 
 should look for the cause which produced 
 the disturbance, and not treat merely ex- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 15 
 
 ternal effects. True perception of cause 
 and effect is the mother of the physician, 
 and in this understanding rests the indi- 
 cation of the remedy. In other words, not 
 man but Nature is the doctor, and Nature 
 requires no complicated prescriptions in 
 her treatment. 
 
 The aim of later medical investigation 
 has tended more towards the classification 
 of disease symptoms and of germ forms. 
 Hence we find the physician delaying 
 treatment even for days until symptoms 
 develop to the point where accurate diag- 
 nosis may be made. I do not think that 
 normal balanced opinion will differ from 
 me when I advance the contention that the 
 first things to be considered in the sick- 
 room are the possibility of recovery and 
 the necessity of quick action along hygienic 
 and curative lines. In the philosophy of 
 fasting for cure the cause is at once at- 
 tacked, and disease is aided in its at- 
 tempt to restore disturbed physical bal- 
 ance by having its avenues of elimination 
 broadened and increased. 
 
 Normal taste and normal hunger are 
 the results of natural methods, and it 
 
16 FASTING FOE THE 
 
 has proved a source of great satisfaction to 
 me to find that the fast in all cases acts 
 instantaneously upon perverted and 
 abused tastes and appetites, and leaves 
 the patient with no desire whatever for 
 stimulation. Condiments, tobacco, alco- 
 hol, and drugs are all proscribed and for- 
 bidden. 
 
 That Biblical reference is made to fast- 
 ing as part of religious form, and that 
 the Christ advised casting out of devils 
 (or disease) by fasting and prayer, fur- 
 nish no argument for classing the treat- 
 ment with cults religious or ethical. It- 
 is my earnest hope that the exposition 
 embodied in the text will be found in 
 consonance with the sanities of culture 
 rather than with the incoherences of the 
 average cult. 
 
 Criticism and opposition are always met 
 in applying the principles that I advance, 
 but I evince no egotism when I say that 
 these are, in all cases, the results of ignor- 
 ance. Before his death in 1904 even Dr. 
 Dewey's long-suffering in the cause of hu- 
 manity had reached its limit; and in a 
 personal letter he says that, due to the 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 17 
 
 necessary teaching and preaching of com- 
 mon sense in hygiene, and due also to al- 
 most ' ' infernal ' ' opposition, he had become 
 most weary of fasting cases. 
 
 Professional dicta assert that starvation 
 and death will ensue if food be withheld 
 for more than two weeks ; that permanent 
 injury will result from the continued use 
 of the enema ; that acute pain may be re- 
 lieved only by anesthesia or narcotism; 
 that the germ is the cause of disease ; that 
 the drug acts upon the organ; and the 
 list might be extended. Individually and 
 by schools, each of these opinions is dog- 
 matically denied, and its opposite declared 
 to be the truth. No such disagreement 
 can occur among those who reason with 
 Nature from cause to effect, for the law of 
 compensation is inexorable in its applica- 
 tion. 
 
 Disease is the reverse of health, but it 
 is not an enemy to life. This again is one 
 of the differences of professional lore, and 
 the text sufficiently exposes the fallacy. 
 I have, however, attempted no extended 
 discussion of this fact, nor of the theory 
 conveyed in the statement that food is 
 
18 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 not the sole source of strength or of 
 bodily heat; but I leave these as material 
 for thought with detail displayed. My 
 own opinion is thoroughly formed, and I 
 hope later to express it in a manner more 
 elaborate and more definite. 
 
 The beginnings of disease lie at the 
 threshold of the process of digestion. 
 Its seeds are sown in the mouth, while 
 stomach and intestines, injured by food 
 improperly prepared, and worked beyond 
 limit by over-supply, continue and con- 
 serve their propagation. Impaired diges- 
 tion and impure blood are cause and 
 effect. 
 
 To anticipate the text, fasting is but a 
 means to an end, a cleansing and resting 
 process that prepares the body for right 
 living in future time. The cure is not 
 accomplished until the individual himself, 
 co-operating with Nature, completes what 
 the fast began. 
 
 The facts presented and the arguments 
 made herein are intended primarily for 
 lay intelligence; but, since positive proof 
 is offered and the results are easily veri- 
 fied, I trust that investigation will follow 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 19 
 
 on the part of broad-minded professional 
 men. I can claim no originality in theory, 
 either philosophical or physiological, but 
 I do advance my right to thoroughness of 
 detail in investigation and to confidence in 
 practical demonstration. 
 
 Seattle, Washington. 
 
Some, as thou saw'st, by violent stroke shall die, 
 
 By fire, flood, famine; by intemperance more 
 
 In meats and drinks, which on the Earth shall bring 
 
 Diseases dire, of which a monstrous crew 
 
 Before thee shall appear, that thou mayst k^ow 
 
 What misery the inabstinence of Eve 
 
 Shall bring on men. 
 
 If thou well observe 
 The rule of "Not too much" by temperance taught 
 In what thou cat'st and drink'st, seeking from thence 
 Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight, 
 Till many years over thy head return; 
 So mayst thou live, till, like ripe fruit, thou drop 
 Into thy mothers lap, or be with ease 
 Gathered, not harshly plucked, for death mature. 
 
 — John Milton, "Paradise Lost." 
 
JfatBitttg for i\\t (Eur* of Stfl?aar 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 Food and Disease. 
 
 In human affairs tradition, inheritance, 
 and education often combine to foster and 
 preserve false and misleading doctrine, 
 and in no instance is this fact so well 
 illustrated as in that of the method in 
 vogue for the treatment of bodily ills. 
 Disease in the popular mind is dreaded, 
 and, with certain symptoms, is fled from 
 in panic and in terror. In existing cir- 
 cumstances this is to be expected, but the 
 day is in sight when the ailments of the 
 human fabric will be looked at rightly as 
 but rational processes of cure. Thus re- 
 garded, disease is not a foe to life, but is 
 Nature's plan of restoring a sick body to 
 health. That the present general concep- 
 tion and treatment of disease are wrong, 
 
 and that perfect health is within reach of 
 
 21 
 
22 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 all not organically imperfect, are truths 
 that the text will fully demonstrate. 
 
 A healthy organism is one that is in 
 position to liberate energy and vitality 
 when needed in the activities. To pre- 
 serve the body in health man eats; and, 
 without sufficient nourishment properly 
 supplied, the bodily machinery functions 
 inefficiently, and disease results. This is 
 Nature's law. But eating has long pan- 
 dered to the sense of taste, and appetite 
 is cultivated at the expense of digestion; 
 and, in consequence, food is consumed in 
 excess of that required to make good the 
 losses incurred through physical and men- 
 tal activity, while much unnecessary labor 
 is entailed in the disposal of the refuse. 
 
 Around the appetites and desires of 
 man false standards have arisen, and cen- 
 turies of catering to taste lie behind exist- 
 ing carelessnes in feeding the body. Over- 
 eating is a well-nigh universal vice, while 
 the laws of nutrition in most individual 
 cases are far from being fulfilled. This 
 fault, apparent though it be, and weaken- 
 ing and distressing in its effect as it is, 
 calls out for correction as does no other 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 23 
 
 in the long list of outrages against Nature. 
 From Cornaro to Fletcher seekers after 
 the remedy have advanced their beliefs to 
 meet the hope that a panacea exists. No 
 one doubts that relief is to be found, for 
 Nature deals but in cause and effect, and 
 the natural tendency in all life is towards 
 perfect health. 
 
 The action of food in the body is purely 
 mechanical. Its purpose is to replace 
 broken-down tissue, and to supply and re- 
 pair the working parts of the machine. 
 To do this it must be prepared for conver- 
 sion into cell structure, and this process is 
 sufficiently familiar to preclude descrip- 
 tion here. Digestion of food is an effort 
 at once nervous and muscular, which will 
 be followed by troubles innumerable if 
 continued beyond the real needs of the 
 system. For, when the body is overfed, 
 energy that might well be utilized for 
 other and more important purposes is em- 
 ployed in taking care of excess material, 
 of which part is absorbed and deposited 
 as fat, and part remains in the intestines 
 to ferment and putrefy. 
 
 Only that portion of digested food that 
 
24 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 is assimilated can be used by the blood to 
 rebuild wasted tissue; the remainder is 
 refuse, and in cases of overfeeding takes 
 its place, as described, with undigested 
 matter to ferment and decompose in the 
 intestines. Absorption of toxins thus 
 formed occurs Rapidly and continuously, as 
 is shown by resultant disease symptoms 
 expressed in colds, headaches, or fevers. 
 
 An examination of human fecal matter 
 reveals certain conditions that are con- 
 clusive as to overfeeding. Undigested food 
 is found in the majority of cases ; digested 
 food products and old feces are present; 
 and, dependent on diet and on mastica- 
 tion, the odor is more or less offensive. 
 Normal refuse from properly masticated 
 natural food is absolutely without odor. 
 When the examination is continued daily 
 for a time assurance is gained that all 
 food is not digested; that the bowels are 
 not completely cleared of waste by the 
 regular one stool per diem ; that ferment- 
 ing rotting material defiles the human in- 
 terior to an extent scarcely to be accepted 
 as a fact until proved; and that an unnec- 
 essary tax is placed upon the digestive 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 25 
 
 tract and upon the eliminating organs by 
 reason of food excess. 
 
 A daily movement of the bowels is no 
 indication of a clean and healthy canal. 
 Sufferers from digestive troubles have 
 often asserted to the author that the 
 bowels were regular in action, and that 
 evacuations were copious; yet, upon ad- 
 ministration of the enema, quantities of 
 old hardened fecal matter appeared; and 
 this not once only, but for days in suc- 
 cession. Post-mortem dissection of the 
 colon furnishes additional evidence of a 
 filthy internal condition, for masses of 
 waste are always discovered clinging to 
 the walls of the organ, material beyond its 
 power to eliminate, and the direct result 
 of overtax from overfeeding. A move- 
 ment of the bowels in these circumstances 
 takes place only through the center of the 
 clogged tube. These are the facts con- 
 fronted in the majority of instances, and 
 indignant denial is usually forthcoming 
 when the subject is informed of the state 
 of affairs, but proof is easily accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Despite prevalent belief, disease never 
 
26 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 strikes suddenly, but is the consequence 
 of long-continued violations of natural 
 law. " Every disease," says Dr. E. H. 
 Dewey, "is an inherited possibility, which 
 every violation of the laws of life tends 
 to develop. It is never simply an attack 
 on a well person, but rather a summing-up 
 of the more or less lifelong violations of 
 health laws." As a result of these trans- 
 gressions, we are admonished by a loss 
 of digestive power ; something goes wrong 
 with the physical scales, and they no 
 longer balance. And, to quote from Dewey 
 again: "Every morsel of food that gets 
 into a human stomach beyond the power 
 to digest and assimilate is always the di- 
 rect exciting cause of disease." 
 
 The outward evidences of disease, its 
 symptoms, vary with temperament, heredi- 
 tary tendencies, surroundings, and phys- 
 ical condition. No two human beings 
 ever express the same signs of disease 
 even in like environment; and just why 
 one individual develops certain symptoms 
 while another similarly situated exhibits 
 forms diametrically opposite, probably 
 finds explanation in the domain of the 
 phenomena of heredity. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 27 
 
 It should not require an exhaustive ar- 
 gument to establish the fact that disease 
 has its origin in impaired digestion. 
 Upon this fundamental truth and its de- 
 velopment, the treatment herein described 
 depends in its entirety; and long expe- 
 rience at varied hands has placed an axio- 
 matic value on the statement that, what- 
 ever the manifestation, the only disease is 
 impure blood, and its sole cause impaired 
 digestion. 
 
 A review of the physiology of the pas- 
 sage of the blood through the body evi- 
 dences that perfect health is synonymous 
 with perfect circulation. What the blood 
 deposits in one state it removes in an- 
 other; and, given a pure blood supply, 
 broken-down tissue is at once eliminated 
 and replaced. The products of food are 
 delivered to the tissue by the blood, and 
 this fluid picks up and carries away the 
 refuse. A physical equilibrium is the re- 
 sult, and a normal healthy body rejoices 
 its owner. 
 
 Food prepared in successive stages of 
 digestion for conversion into tissue pabu- 
 lum first develops into chyle, a milky 
 
28 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 liquid that is absorbed from the intestines 
 and is conducted through liver, heart, and 
 lungs to the arterial system. Elements 
 other than food products enter into cell 
 structure, but the great supply arises from 
 food ingested and digested; and blood 
 quality depends in largest degree upon 
 food properly converted and absorbed. 
 Any disturbance of any part of the pro- 
 cesses of digestion or of assimilation 
 causes an imperfect supply of blood and 
 tissue nourishment; the physical equilib- 
 rium is overturned, and disease ensues. 
 
 When such disorder occurs, imperfect 
 action of one or other of the vital func- 
 tions results, the blood becomes encum- 
 bered with impurities, and Nature at once 
 makes the effort to restore normal balance 
 by manifesting disease. The simplest in- 
 stance of this condition is a cold in the 
 head. Properly speaking, a cold of any 
 sort is Nature's attempt to cast out blood 
 impurity, and excessive discharge from 
 the nasal passages or from the throat is 
 a sign that she is applying her cure. 
 The object accomplished, the discharge 
 ceases. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 29 
 
 The law of compensation is amply and 
 completely shown in the realm of Nature, 
 for each and every violation of her rules 
 of order brings condign correction, indi- 
 vidual or cumulative. On the other hand, 
 the Great Mother holds forth relief, for- 
 giveness, and restoration when old paths 
 are forsaken and natural roads resumed. 
 
 Overworked Nature has one means of 
 recuperation, rest, and rest alone. Grant- 
 ing that impaired digestion is the source 
 of impure blood or disease, it is reasona- 
 ble to assume that abused digestive func- 
 tions, properly relieved from labor for a 
 time, will recover and return with re- 
 newed vigor to their appointed tasks. 
 That this conclusion is true in all senses, 
 it is the purpose of the following pages 
 to establish. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 Rest and Elimination. 
 
 When a man runs as fast as his legs 
 can move, he is able to keep up the pace 
 for but a short distance. On account of 
 the forced, vigorous, and rapid muscular 
 action, poisonous materials are thrown 
 into the blood to be carried to all parts 
 of the body, to muscles, nerves, and brain. 
 Through the nerve cells the heart is af- 
 fected, and the muscles of respiration are 
 similarly disturbed. Panting, distressed 
 efforts of breathing, sidelong tumbling, 
 and final semi-consciousness are symp- 
 toms of resulting self-intoxication that 
 may end in death. The sole method of 
 restoration lies in complete and absolute 
 rest. 
 
 Body tissue is continually undergoing 
 change of material. The substances that 
 form it are being constantly cast off, and 
 
 30 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 31 
 
 fresh matter is being supplied. The waste 
 eliminated is poison; and, without tissue 
 rest, this dead and noxious detritus can- 
 not be replaced fast enough by new prod- 
 ucts. This applies not only to tissue in 
 active use, but to all tissue of the body. 
 
 The heart, though making contractions 
 at the rate of seventy- two beats the min- 
 ute, is able to continue its work through- 
 out the life of the individual. Each con- 
 traction of this muscle is followed by an 
 interval of rest, during which the cells 
 recuperate. Push the heart beats to a 
 rapid rate, and the danger point is 
 reached at which poisonous products are 
 not replaced by fresh cells, since the in- 
 tervals of rest are not sufficient. The same 
 conditions are met in every bodily organ. 
 
 All during life each member of the body 
 in the very act of living is producing 
 poison within itself. When toxins accu- 
 mulate faster than they are eliminated, 
 which always occurs unless an interval of 
 rest is offered, fatigue is felt, and this is 
 only another name for poisonous infec- 
 tion. If action and rest are so regulated 
 that the cells may give off their waste 
 
32 PASTING FOR THE 
 
 products at a rate to keep pace with new 
 formations, muscle and nerve tissue will 
 always be in position to liberate energy 
 continuously. 
 
 As outlined in the instances described, 
 overworked Nature has but one means of 
 recuperation, rest and rest alone. Prac- 
 tice has confirmed the logic of the theory, 
 and just as muscle, just as brain, supplied 
 with intervals of rest, return in vigor to 
 their tasks, so abused digestive functions, 
 properly relieved from labor for a time, 
 recuperate and apply themselves to their 
 bodily duties with strength renewed. 
 
 Perhaps it is not at once apparent how 
 the digestive organs may be given needed 
 rest. The very thought of not eating 
 brings with it a breach of long-taught doc- 
 trine that frequent daily feeding, sick or 
 well, is necessary for the maintenance of 
 vitality and strength. Yet just this omis- 
 sion is meant when one speaks of resting 
 the digestive functions. 
 
 In illness weight is always lost, and de- 
 pendent upon the duration of disease it is 
 lost in greater or less amount. At this 
 time under prevailing methods feeding is 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 33 
 
 continuous, and if the stomach rebel nutri- 
 tious enemata are called into service. The 
 question arises, Why, if food is constantly 
 supplied, does the body lose in weight? 
 It should be clear that the intake is not 
 digested, is not assimilated, and, far from 
 nourishing the tissues, is an added burden 
 to the vitality. 
 
 With slight differences the physiology 
 of digestion in mammals is markedly sim- 
 ilar. When disease is manifested, ani- 
 mals, taught by a power that has been 
 educated out of man, abstain from food 
 until the physical balance is restored. 
 This fact is one that each of us has ob- 
 served, but it, perhaps, has not been in- 
 telligently applied. That a horse is "off 
 his feed" is a common expression of the 
 stable, and this alone illustrates the in- 
 stinct that impels the animal to fast when 
 its physical well-being is disturbed. These 
 periods are ordinarily of short duration, 
 but cats have been known to prolong ab- 
 stention to skeleton condition, and then to 
 return rapidly to health with increased 
 strength and vigor. 
 
 Omitting such mental states as fear or 
 
34 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 prolonged worry, and such physical ones 
 as severe pain or continued exposure, the 
 average man cannot die for want of food 
 in at least one hundred days. This fact 
 has been proved in medical history in 
 many instances, and is verified and cor- 
 roborated daily in fasting for the cure 
 of disease. The reasons underlying it will 
 be brought out later in the text. 
 
 If, then, the body can exist without food 
 for a time, and in illness the stomach in- 
 stinctively objects to its introduction, it is 
 reasonable to conclude that food not de- 
 sired is not necessary, and this conclu- 
 sion, once adopted, is abundantly justified. 
 The results are such that they lead to the 
 further conclusion that, in the absence of 
 organic imperfections, abstinence from 
 food, with other natural health-giving and 
 health-preserving accompaniments, is the 
 sovereign remedy for all physical ills. 
 
 Abruptly to omit all food sets the sys- 
 tem clamoring for its regular supply at 
 its regular hours, and the effect is much 
 like that experienced by the confirmed 
 toper or by the drug victim when his dose 
 is perforce denied. Nervous reaction is 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 35 
 
 quite evident, but there are cases when 
 measures as drastic must be employed. 
 The ideal way to approach total absti- 
 nence is to lower the amount of food 
 gradually. Perhaps the easiest and best 
 method is found in omitting the morning 
 meal for several days or a week; then for 
 a few days both morning and noon re- 
 pasts ; and finally in dropping the evening 
 meal and subsisting for the necessary in- 
 terval on fresh air and pure water. 
 
 In the ordinary patient, the omission of 
 breakfast occasions slight disturbances, 
 such as dizziness, headache, and stomach 
 and bowel pains. But these pass, and 
 there are usually no unpleasant symp- 
 toms when the other meals are dropped 
 in succession. In the no-breakfast period 
 elimination of digestive toxins begins to 
 gain over their formation; and, as the 
 patient tapers off, the fact that his body 
 is undergoing a cleansing process becomes 
 most evident from the bowel discharges, 
 and from the odor emanating from both 
 skin and breath. When he enters the ab- 
 solute fast, he is surprised beyond meas- 
 ure to discover that the odor becomes, if 
 
36 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 anything, more offensive, and that the 
 evacuations continue, and, to a certain 
 limit, increase in quantity and in vileness. 
 
 It is soon apparent from the results that 
 years of overworked digestive functions, 
 and of consequent imperfect nutrition, 
 have loaded the tissues with toxins, and 
 that a complete reversal in the nature and 
 manner of the food supply is necessary. 
 But a fresh foundation must be construct- 
 ed, and a change in internal conditions 
 must be effected by removing the active 
 cause, and by renewing the functions of 
 those organs responsible for the safety 
 and well-being of the life within. 
 
 When the influx of food is stopped, 
 the stomach is naturally emptied, and 
 commences its enforced vacation. Its 
 whole strength is now applied in recupera- 
 tion, in subduing, with the assistance of a 
 blood current continually growing in pur- 
 ity, any inflammation that may be present 
 in its walls, and in allaying congestion in 
 veins and in glands. It will from time to 
 time be disturbed in its work by its neigh- 
 bor, the liver, which is sending quan- 
 tities of bile into the alimentary canal. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 37 
 
 When this occurs in great frequency, a 
 sick stomach evidences the excess. To an 
 appreciable degree during a fast the 
 stomach diminishes in size ; and, when eat- 
 ing is resumed, it is well not to distend the 
 organ unduly with liquids or solids. If, 
 however, water is drunk in proper quan- 
 tities and at proper intervals, while the 
 volume decreases, the power of contrac- 
 tion and expansion is not at all impaired. 
 The involuntary functions of the body 
 blindly obey at all times their several laws 
 regardless of the material given them to 
 handle. As the fast progresses, the blood, 
 following its mission, gathers up the 
 refuse from broken-down cells, and sup- 
 plies for rebuilding purposes what is 
 available. This it finds partly in the fat of 
 the body and partly in the material still 
 in the intestines; but not for long, since, 
 in a properly conducted fast, fat gradually 
 disappears, and the contents of the bowels 
 are promptly removed by enemata. As 
 the purifying process continues, the waste 
 grows less; the density of the blood is 
 much reduced, and with it the labor of the 
 heart, which is thus progressively light- 
 
38 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 ened of its burden. When food is taken 
 away, the bowels still proceed to collect 
 the refuse deposited within them; the 
 kidneys and the liver continue eliminating ; 
 and the whole sewerage system combines 
 to clear away the impurities delivered to 
 it by the blood. 
 
 The liver stands at the portal of the 
 circulation like a great watch-dog. It re- 
 ceives the digested food absorbed through 
 the walls of the intestines, and it sepa- 
 rates good from bad. Its products are, 
 on the one hand, blood filled with nutri- 
 ment, and, on the other, the peculiar secre- 
 tion known as bile. The latter it stores in 
 the gall-bladder and feeds to the intestines 
 as needed in food digestion. When over- 
 worked by overfeeding, the liver cannot 
 properly perform its function of inspec- 
 tion, and more or less of the poison ab- 
 sorbed from fermenting waste in the 
 bowels is carried into the circulation. Ex- 
 cess of bile is manifest, and with it the 
 headache, the cold, the bilious attack, all 
 warnings that must be heeded lest dire 
 results succeed. 
 
 The minute cells of the liver have indi- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 39 
 
 vidua! work to perform in separating nu- 
 tritive material from waste. These cells 
 are delicate little bodies and will not stand 
 abuse. All habits having a tendency to 
 cause digestive disturbance, — excessive use 
 of tobacco or alcohol, eating rapidly, eat- 
 ing indigestible food, and overeating, — viti- 
 ate the work of this organ. Any clogging 
 or interference with its functional duties 
 prevents the blood from receiving the 
 benefit of inspection, and an impure fluid 
 is the result. All parts of the body will 
 show distressing symptoms of fatigue and 
 exhaustion if the cells of the liver become 
 diseased or useless through intemperate 
 living and through ignorance of the spe- 
 cific duties belonging to each separate or- 
 gan of the human fabric; and over-in- 
 dulgence in alcohol or overeating will de- 
 stroy them in thousands. They are dead, 
 and the organ is left with lessened power 
 to eliminate poison, while the body re- 
 tires, beaten by one of its members. 
 
 Nature is loath to cast out anything as 
 worthless, and that function of the liver 
 by which waste, segregated from blood 
 material, is utilized for further digestive 
 
40 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 operation in the form of bile, is one of the 
 most striking instances of her economy. 
 Unless care be taken to furnish a correct 
 food supply in correct proportion and 
 quantity, this fluid is secreted in amount 
 larger than the system demands, and is 
 absorbed and reabsorbed, with additions 
 from other sources, until congestion re- 
 sults, the circulation is vitiated, and the 
 bowels are filled with bilious toxins that 
 poison and repoison indefinitely. 
 
 In the fast, the warm water enema, 
 properly administered and assisted by 
 manipulation of the small intestines, re- 
 moves the excessive amount of bile se- 
 creted at this time, and reabsorption is 
 thus prevented. It may be seen that, in 
 the absence of food, the liver has but one 
 office to perform, to eliminate, to cast out. 
 There being no food supply, all secretion 
 from this organ is waste and should be re- 
 moved promptly from the system. 
 
 The kidneys assist materially in the 
 cleansing process, and are not deprived 
 of their supplies to the same extent as the 
 other functions, for the drinking of water 
 in quantity sufficient to insure a constant 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 41 
 
 irrigation of stomach and upper intes- 
 tine is an absolute requirement in fast- 
 ing. The juice of the pancreas is also 
 discharged as refuse. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Symptoms. 
 
 As indicated, the ideal method of ap- 
 proaching the fast is to prepare the sys- 
 tem by a gradual lessening of the food 
 supply. But whether begun in this way 
 or without preparation, as is necessary in 
 acute disease, the resultant symptoms are, 
 in general, alike. Usually the first few 
 days are the most troublesome, but this is 
 true in the breaking of any habit. Once 
 elimination becomes predominant, desire 
 for food is supplanted by disgust at 
 thought of it, and appetite gives little 
 bother until the fast is completed. There 
 may be variations in this sign, due more 
 or less to the time given to the prelim- 
 inaries; and in the author's experience 
 are several instances in which appetite or 
 a semblance of it was present throughout 
 the whole period of abstinence. This, how- 
 ever, is not usual. 
 
 42 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 43 
 
 The tongue at once dons a thick yellow- 
 ish-white coat, which it keeps until the im- 
 purities within are dispersed; and the 
 clearing of its surface is one of the im- 
 portant signals that indicate the com- 
 pleted fast. Like the tongue, the breath 
 becomes loaded with evidences of the in- 
 ternal condition, and its odor is most 
 offensive for the greater part of the fast- 
 ing period. This, too, is an indicator of 
 the progress of the cleansing process, and 
 it announces the end by becoming odor- 
 less. 
 
 It is quite common to observe in dis- 
 eased persons unpleasant body odors. 
 These are simple manifestations of a foul 
 interior that Nature is seeking to relieve 
 through the organs of elimination, not the 
 least of which is the skin. It is well 
 known that most lunatics have a peculiar 
 odor so marked that an experienced at- 
 tendant can at once distinguish a mental 
 pervert. This is true in many disease 
 symptoms other than those of the mind, 
 each possessing its characteristic body 
 odor. Even in the milder forms of ner- 
 
44 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 vous derangements, such as hysteria and 
 the like, the odor of the body becomes 
 distinctly changed, and is frequently no- 
 ticed by the patients themselves. In the 
 fast this effluvium is much more evident 
 than is ordinarily the case, and can be de- 
 tected at once upon entering a room occu- 
 pied by a patient undergoing treatment. 
 Elimination from the pores of the skin is 
 no greater than that through other chan- 
 nels, nor is it less offensive. 
 
 Another sign of progression is found 
 in the saliva, which at first is apt to be 
 viscous in quality, and is much less abun- 
 dant than in ordinary circumstances. In 
 fact, as a general thing, the saliva, a di- 
 gestive juice, is not secreted in quantity 
 during the fast until hunger asserts itself. 
 However, the mouth is more or less moist, 
 and, in case of nausea, there is abundant 
 evidence that the salivary glands are in 
 working order; but, as stated, the fluid 
 secreted is usually thick and foamy in 
 consistency and appearance, and it re- 
 sumes its natural condition only when the 
 system is completely cleansed, and when 
 food is demanded by natural hunger. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 45 
 
 There are instances in which acid condi- 
 tions are present during the early stages 
 of the fast, and saliva in quantities ap- 
 pears, but, as the fast progresses, this 
 symptom vanishes. 
 
 For some little time in severe cases, 
 dizziness on rising suddenly, spots be- 
 fore the eyes, and general malaise and 
 weakness are present. But these signs 
 are not found in every instance, and can- 
 not be established as guides. Some there 
 are who may abstain from food as long 
 as thirty or forty days with no disagree- 
 able symptoms save offensive breath and 
 loss in weight; and there are others in 
 whom all the indications thus far' de- 
 scribed are in evidence until the end of 
 the fast. 
 
 In what are known as bilious tempera- 
 ments, recruited from the ranks of those 
 who, by high living, careless feeding, and 
 overfeeding, have given the liver work be- 
 yond its capability, the experience of the 
 fast is often a trying one. The bile stored 
 in the congested organ and extracted from 
 the circulation is thrown out in quantities, 
 and floods the intestines to such extent 
 
46 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 that, before it can be removed, antiperis- 
 talsis takes place, and the stomach finds 
 itself used as a depository. This fact is 
 announced in the usual way, and nausea 
 occurs with vomiting of greenish-yellow 
 bile. There is no absolute certainty of the 
 appearance of this sign, but it is present 
 in greater or less degree in the subjects 
 referred to. In one known instance vomit- 
 ing of bile took place daily for twenty-six 
 days. 
 
 In nervous troubles extremely disagree- 
 able symptoms, with the exception of irri- 
 tability, are ordinarily absent; and the 
 fast progresses without incident to com- 
 pletion. But in all fasters the discharges 
 from the bowels are very similar, a brown- 
 ish fluid shading to black, with lumps of 
 old feces more or less abundant. The lat- 
 ter are in evidence to the end, and are 
 proof positive of the former statement 
 that overworked bowels do not fully evacu- 
 ate their contents even when regular in 
 action. 
 
 With the above facts in mind, and with 
 the thought that each individual develops 
 his own case and may or may not ex- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 47 
 
 hibit one or more of the symptoms de- 
 scribed, ordinarily the time after the first 
 few days is uneventful. As much water 
 as can conveniently be handled must be 
 drunk, and each day the warm bath and 
 the enema must aid elimination. In the 
 event that plain water prove repugnant 
 to the taste, as is often the case, a little 
 lemon juice may be added for palatability. 
 
 In the earlier stages there are fermen- 
 tation and consequent formation of gas, 
 which may continue for days, depending 
 upon the amount of solid material clinging 
 to the walls of the intestines, and also 
 upon what may be termed the virulence of 
 the bile and other waste deposited in the 
 bowels. The gas formed is often the cause 
 of colicky pains, and is always a source 
 of uncomfortable moments until removed. 
 Manipulation of the abdomen and hot wa- 
 ter applications are of great assistance at 
 times like these, since they tend to reduce 
 the inflated bowel by stimulating peris- 
 talsis, and thus bring about the discharge 
 of the gas. 
 
 Almost all fasters pass through a period 
 of chilliness and of temperature slightly 
 
48 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 below register. This is aggravated in cer- 
 tain temperaments, and its causes are sub- 
 sequently explained; but, as elimination 
 progresses, and as disease disappears, tem- 
 perature approaches and invariably 
 reaches normal, usually long before the 
 fast is ended. 
 
 Sometimes ringing in the ears annoys 
 the patient, and as relaxation takes place 
 there may be partial deafness in one or 
 both organs. The fast will eventually cor- 
 rect this, but a soft rubber syringe and 
 warm water will assist materially, and 
 will hasten the relief. Finger massage of 
 the muscles surrounding the ears also 
 proves beneficial, and any adhering wax 
 may ordinarily be loosened by inserting 
 the tip of the empty syringe into the ear, 
 and by then expelling the air and allow- 
 ing the bulb to fill a number of times in 
 succession. Care should be taken not to 
 exert too much pressure upon the drum. 
 
 In defective vision resulting from mus- 
 cular inefficiency, or even when presbyopia 
 or myopia is present, in many instances 
 the fast develops improvement. Conges- 
 tion is always rapidly relieved and eye- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 49 
 
 strain with it, so that glasses are often 
 laid aside, and natural normal sight is 
 restored. In some long-standing myopic 
 cases the defects show snch change for 
 the better that weaker lenses are found to 
 answer the requirements of sight; and, 
 when astigmatism is the fault, the chances 
 are that a fast will entirely correct the 
 difficulty. 
 
 The more usual indication of disease as 
 it affects bodily temperature is fever; but 
 it is quite frequently the case that in 
 anemic subjects shortly after the begin- 
 ning of a fast, the temperature drops a 
 degree or so below register. This is 
 caused by the absence of food stimulation, 
 for a fast never lowers the temperature. 
 It is always low in instances of long- 
 standing debility, and it is high in propor- 
 tion to the severity of acute disease. A 
 fast tends to restore temperature and 
 pulse to normal, be they high or low to be- 
 gin with. The author treated a patient 
 whose temperature was habitually ninety- 
 four degrees. On a fast it apparently 
 made no change until the twentieth day, 
 and it reached normal on the thirtieth 
 
50 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 when the fast ended with the return of 
 hunger. 
 
 In any case the temperature is merely 
 a symptom of the intensity of Nature's 
 efforts to restore a normal condition, and 
 is a fight for life that has little need to be 
 suppressed. No thermometer is necessary 
 to read the severity of disease. If the 
 pulse and temperature are above or be- 
 low normal at the beginning of a fast, 
 they will go down to normal or up to 
 normal as the case may be when disease 
 disappears, and perhaps while other symp- 
 toms are still present. 
 
 One word more as to bodily tempera- 
 ture in connection with the fast. Physiol- 
 ogy asserts that there can be no digestion 
 in the absence of digestive juices, and 
 that there is almost no secretion of these 
 fluids when fever is in evidence. Why, 
 then, feed during high temperature? Com- 
 mon sense announces that without diges- 
 tion there can be no nourishment, no up- 
 building of wasted tissue. Why add the 
 burden of eliminating undigested material 
 to the already great effort Nature is 
 employing to reduce the overstimulated 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 51 
 
 heart action? The surest means to cor- 
 rect a fever is to withhold food; and, in 
 any event, since under a fast the tendency 
 in all respects is towards the normal, 
 abstinence from food is the certain method 
 to employ for its attainment. 
 
 Such symptoms as occur in the begin- 
 ning of the fast, weakness, vertigo, and 
 the like, may all be ascribed to food stimu- 
 lation. They are akin to those observed 
 in the steady consumer of alcoholics on 
 the omission of his morning dram. After 
 these signs disappear, the patient finds 
 himself stronger, and in most instances 
 able to attend without difficulty to his 
 ordinary labor, and to approach it with 
 brain marvelously clear. In other words, 
 with the loss of stimulation due to food 
 and food poison, disease decreases, and 
 the patient's real strength manifests it- 
 self. He is not any weaker than he has 
 been at any time during his previous 
 diseased existence, for he has been living 
 under stimulation, which is no indication 
 of vitality, for it is not strength. 
 
 The subject of food stimulation has not 
 received the attention that it deserves, for 
 
52 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 it is always a most important factor in 
 disease, and must be considered as such in 
 any system of treatment. After the body 
 has become accustomed to a certain food 
 supply, whatever the quantity or the hours 
 of consumption, it seriously objects when 
 denied. The system may be greatly over- 
 fed and may be slowly poisoning itself 
 through its own indiscretions; yet the 
 omission of a meal sets the stomach clam- 
 oring for its dose. So much for habit. 
 Given the usual quota, matters progress 
 comparatively smoothly until the excess 
 of filth is too heavy to be carried, or some 
 microbe or other finds inviting soil in 
 which to increase and multiply, and then 
 Nature calls a halt, and attempts to cor- 
 rect things by disease. The removal of 
 the familiar whip, the food supply, gives 
 her the opportunity, but the patient is 
 plunged for a while into the depths. 
 Stimulation, so long a habit, now seems 
 necessary to counteract the symptoms 
 produced by deprivation, and at this time 
 the mentality must be called to the rescue, 
 and the will must be asserted in all its 
 strength to overcome the disposition and 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 53 
 
 the desire to resume eating. Stimulation, 
 whether it be from food, alcohol, poison, 
 or nervous excitement, is always followed 
 by a period of depression. 
 
 The paradoxical statement that a sick 
 and seemingly weak man is a man of 
 strength is explained by the simple fact 
 that all avenues for the passage of energy 
 and vitality are so clogged by disease as 
 to be useless. Once disease is eliminated, 
 these forces are liberated, and strength is 
 revealed. 
 
 The mysterious powers, energy and 
 vitality, which are expressed as life, exist 
 outside of and independent of the human 
 body as they do within it. A healthy 
 organism is one that is in position to 
 liberate these forces in the form of 
 strength as they are needed in the activ- 
 ities. Energy and vitality animate alike 
 the blade of grass, the rock of the fields, 
 and the fabric of man. When, through 
 fasting, dead and noxious refuse is elimi- 
 nated, the manifestation of each of these 
 qualities is evident, and we learn that man 
 does not depend upon food for inherent 
 energy or vitality, nor for their expres- 
 
54 FASTING FOR CURE 
 
 sion, strength. Food is needed only for 
 the repair of broken-down tissue, for the 
 upbuilding and rebuilding of the frame- 
 work that carries the human entity, the 
 human soul. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Duration of Fast. 
 
 In observed cases of so-called starva- 
 tion in medical history, the following table 
 from Yeo's "Physiology" exhibits the 
 consumption of tissue and fluid: — fat, 
 91% ; muscle, 30% ; liver, 56% ; spleen, 63% ; 
 blood, 17% ; nerve centers, 0%. Fat, it 
 will be seen, is almost entirely consumed, 
 and the muscle waste is but one-third. 
 The loss is not remarkable in the organs 
 mentioned, nor in the blood; but the last 
 item is peculiar, and is a seemingly im- 
 possible result. That the brain and the 
 other nerve centers are not in the least 
 affected by absence of food prolonged to 
 starvation is paradoxical, but explanation 
 is ready at hand. Nerve tissue uses the 
 body itself as a food supply, and its 
 source of subsistence during a fast is no 
 different from that when food is ingested 
 in usual quantities. The whole nervous 
 system regains its vigor by rest and sleep 
 
 55 
 
~>6 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 alone, and maintains its substance at a 
 maximum by the means described. Hence 
 so long as there remain tissue and blood 
 sufficient to carry on the work of the circu- 
 lation, the nerves will continue directing 
 the same and will not waste away in the 
 labor. 
 
 We may look at this power that the 
 brain possesses of consuming the body, 
 as the cause of loss of weight in illness. 
 It seems to prefer what is most con- 
 veniently spared when it makes a choice of 
 diet, for fat disappears first, and the rest 
 of the tissue is utilized in the inverse 
 order of the usefulness of its parts. 
 When, in disease, digestive action is ab- 
 sent and there is positive aversion to 
 food, and since we now recognize that 
 food is not the source of inherent vitality, 
 the fact that the patient shows an increase 
 in vital power and in strength during the 
 fast as disease diminishes should now 
 need no further demonstration. 
 
 The duration of the fast is a matter 
 that cannot be predicted or prescribed, 
 for the treatment has its beginning in 
 diseased appetite, and its end in that hun- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 57 
 
 ger that marks the return of digestive 
 power. Until the latter arrives, and its 
 appearance cannot be mistaken, the fast 
 should continue. Then, and not till then, 
 is the system in condition again to re- 
 ceive and transform food into body tissue. 
 Numerous essentials govern the extent 
 of time that should be given to the fast 
 proper. If preparation can be had, a 
 shorter interval is needed, for cleansing 
 has progressed in partial manner while 
 meals were being omitted. Also it hap- 
 pens that patients are so weakened and 
 the avenues of vitality are so clogged by 
 disease as to forbid long abstinence; and 
 in this event short fasts are in order, al- 
 ternating with periods of dieting. In ordi- 
 nary cases the one remedy, is a long con- 
 tinuous fast ; and it may be carried to its 
 logical end without danger or alarm, for 
 in the power that the brain holds of feed- 
 ing at the expense of the body lies the 
 absolute safety of the treatment. The use 
 of the tissues to nourish the nerve centers 
 progresses so perfectly that there is no 
 cost to the vitality, and the average adult 
 bears within him brain food sufficient to 
 
58 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 sustain life for many weeks. Unless or- 
 ganic disease exists and repair is impos- 
 sible, the patient will, after the fast has 
 removed the impurities in his system, 
 rapidly return to perfect health. 
 
 When, in the fast, the period is reached 
 that marks the disappearance of disease, 
 the subject begins to use his own vitality, 
 his own strength. At this time also the 
 mental qualities are found at a maximum, 
 and all avenues of energy and vitality are 
 free and unclogged, prepared in every 
 way for the transfer of strength. Here 
 an increase in weight often occurs, another 
 seemingly impossible effect, for in the 
 ordinary method of reasoning from a phys- 
 iological standpoint, there can be no phys- 
 ical gain without a corresponding intake. 
 The weak man again surprises himself 
 with his strength, and he finds that the 
 oxygen of the air and the nutriment con- 
 tained in pure water are hardly to be ab- 
 sorbed in quantity sufficient to account 
 for an increase of five or six pounds on 
 the scales. And further, at the end of 
 the fast, gains in weight are recorded that 
 can in no way be balanced by the intake. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 59 
 
 In several instances when food ingested 
 amounted to sixteen ounces daily for five 
 days in succession, the gain in weight was 
 never less than four pounds a day, and on 
 one or two days reached five pounds. 
 This increase continues and gradually de- 
 creases until the normal weight of the in- 
 dividual is reached, when, with proper 
 care of diet and exercise, normal weight 
 as well as normal functions will be pre- 
 served indefinitely. 
 
 The signs of a completed fast are most 
 easily recognized. The tongue slowly 
 clears, and, when the fast concludes, is 
 pink and clean; the breath sweetens, and 
 at the end is without odor; appetite and 
 false hunger give way to natural hunger, 
 a sensation exquisite beyond description, 
 that may be realized only by a clean, pure, 
 regenerated system. 
 
 Few people ever know natural hunger, 
 and it is well worth working to the end 
 that it may be experienced. Even the 
 natural taste of food is unknown to the 
 great majority, for cooking is done with 
 seasoning added, and condiments abuse 
 the sense of taste to the degree that there 
 
60 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 is no pleasure in eating if they are absent. 
 Natural hunger relishes natural food, and 
 to him that knows it no morsel is without 
 delight. 
 
 The question, "How long must I fast?" 
 can never be answered with certainty ; and 
 again it must be repeated that each indi- 
 vidual develops his own case, and that 
 each case has its own limitations and re- 
 quirements. Sometimes it is good judg- 
 ment to break the fast before the system 
 is completely cleansed, to return after an 
 interval of dieting to abstinence, but the 
 most satisfactory method is the long con- 
 tinuous fast that finishes the work, and 
 gives to the sufferer a new and thoroughly 
 cleansed body, ready to take up its labors 
 and with proper hygienic care to carry 
 them on indefinitely. 
 
 In breaking the fast, and this applies 
 especially to a fast completed in all senses 
 and with natural hunger in evidence, great 
 care must be used. How much, how often, 
 and what to eat at this time and through- 
 out the rebuilding process, are matters 
 of vital import. When eating is resumed, 
 excessive desire for food develops; and, 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 61 
 
 if this be indulged and not restrained, the 
 benefits of the cleansing that the patient 
 has undergone are apt to be neutralized, if 
 not absolutely destroyed. Just here is 
 where the care and direction of one con- 
 versant in all respects with the method of 
 treatment are almost necessary to success- 
 ful issue. Even after the normal amount 
 of food supply is reached, it is incumbent 
 upon the patient to continue the diet pre- 
 scribed, and to follow certain daily 
 exercises that tend to rebuild the wasted 
 muscular tissue. When the fast is ended 
 and the cleansing of the body is complete, 
 heart, arteries, and veins perform their 
 work in an absolutely perfect manner; 
 and, even when organic imperfection has 
 caused death, temperature, pulse, and cir- 
 culation have invariably remained at nor- 
 mal until within a very short time of dis- 
 solution. 
 
 He argues with premises awry who be- 
 lieves that following Nature necessitates 
 renouncing the pleasures of living. In no 
 conditions, save natural ones, is there so 
 much of real gratification in the simpler 
 acts that go to make up life. To eat 
 
62 FASTING FOR CURE 
 
 rationally, to eat enough and no more, to 
 confine one's drink to non-stimulating 
 beverages, become exquisite pleasures, 
 joys unknown before; and Nature permits 
 no grief for the flesh-pots of Egypt, nor 
 for the loss of an artificial appetite. 
 
 All that the fast requires of its adher- 
 ents is correct reasoning. Once this is 
 impressed upon a mind capable of carry- 
 ing the method to its fulfillment, health is 
 there for the asking; but no one in 
 Nature's world has ever received some- 
 thing for nothing, and the law of compen- 
 sation, here as elsewhere, demands reason, 
 effort, and will. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 Death isr the Fast. 
 
 In ordinary conditions by far the 
 greater number of deaths result from 
 troubles functional, not organic. When- 
 ever, through disease or shock, the brain 
 finds itself unable to draw upon body 
 tissue for supplies, death occurs. The 
 life within is shut off only when some 
 paralyzing cause, not thoroughly under- 
 stood, prevents nourishment of nerve cen- 
 ters; and it is questionable whether, in a 
 conscious being, death has ever resulted 
 from starvation, or, in other words, from 
 the exhaustion of body tissue as brain 
 food. No evidence that can be taken as 
 conclusive shows this to be the fact. 
 
 There is no more paralyzing agent than 
 unreasoning fear; and terror plays its 
 part in accidental situations, such as mine 
 disasters, shipwrecks, and the like. Death 
 in the fast never results from deprivation 
 of food, but is the inevitable consequence 
 
 63 
 
64 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 of vitality sapped to the last degree by 
 organic imperfection. One instance of 
 this is illustrative of all, and it is inserted 
 for the light it casts on those cases in 
 which an ignorant and thoughtless public 
 visits its condemnation upon the develop- 
 ment of great utilitarian truths. 
 
 The subject, a woman, who had devoted 
 twenty years of vain attempt to enjoy 
 normal healthy existence under many 
 methods of treatment, finally discovered 
 that dieting and short fasts were the only 
 means of obtaining temporary relief. 
 That her condition was perilous at the 
 time of consultation was plainly evident, 
 and that an absolute fast could not be 
 considered immediately was apparent as 
 well. Careful dieting was advised and 
 was continued until six months later, when 
 the patient insisted upon carrying out a 
 full fast. 
 
 Her stomach was not digesting food, 
 nor had it been doing so for a long time; 
 but she had cut down her supply to two 
 light meals daily, and had received partial 
 benefit from the lessened strain upon the 
 digestive tract. After three weeks of 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 65 
 
 gradual omission, she reached the total 
 abstinence stage, and at once felt the 
 greatest relief. At the end of ten days, 
 fruit juices were administered with good 
 effect, and on the twentieth day the 
 patient thought that her stomach could 
 handle food once more. Experience has 
 shown in cases of this kind that opposi- 
 tion, whatsoever be the personal opinion, 
 is unwise, so vegetable broths were fed. 
 The organs of digestion could not, as was 
 plainly evident, have reached the cleansed 
 and rested condition that would allow 
 them to resume their labors, and the ad- 
 ministration of food resulted in placing 
 the patient in bed with nausea and fermen- 
 tation in the intestines. All this was 
 foreseen and foretold, but the other and 
 stronger reason for the consequences 
 described was not revealed until later. 
 
 The case at this stage was brought to 
 the attention of several skilled medical 
 practitioners, but nothing could be sug- 
 gested, since the stomach refused nourish- 
 ment, and there was great difficulty in the 
 retention of even water. Matters pro- 
 gressed somewhat favorably, notwith- 
 
66 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 standing, for more than two weeks, with 
 normal pulse and temperature, but with 
 no material improvement. As a final 
 resort, a consultation of medical men was 
 called, but again they were helpless, and 
 death intervened at the end of the fortieth 
 day. 
 
 The autopsy revealed a condition that 
 Nature had already predicated. The 
 stomach occupied a position such that its 
 pyloric opening was turned forward and 
 downward six or seven inches; the lower 
 surface of the organ lay opposite the 
 navel, and its normal shape was so dis- 
 torted that it measured nearly two feet in 
 length. In addition, the small intestines 
 at various points adhered to the walls of 
 the peritoneum, and the stomach itself 
 had to be cut from the same surface in 
 order to expose it entirely to view. 
 
 The medical history of the case showed 
 an aggravated attack of typhoid fever and 
 peritonitis about twelve years previous. 
 This determined the date of the adhesions 
 and of the consequent distortion in stom- 
 ach and intestines. In attempting to over- 
 come existing conditions, the gall bladder 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 67 
 
 had developed to the size of two fists, and 
 the liver had turned black as a coal. 
 
 The wonder was that Nature had been 
 able to preserve this organically imper- 
 fect structure for the years that it had 
 lived. In the story of this woman's 
 physical existence, medicine rendered no 
 assistance, and the progress of disease 
 showed nothing but decline. Bilious dis- 
 charges and weakened heart action were 
 symptoms that never varied except to be 
 aggravated as time went on. The fast 
 with its accompanying enemas disclosed 
 from the first day immense quantities of 
 vile, black filth; and, until the twentieth 
 day, the case showed decided ease and 
 lessened pain; but still there was no de- 
 crease in the amount of stored up rotten- 
 ness that each injection revealed; and 
 Nature at length indicated that organic 
 trouble beyond repair existed, and that 
 death was inevitable. 
 
 In this connection the experience of the 
 author has been more than conclusive. 
 When death has occurred in the fast, its 
 signals have been displayed long before 
 actual dissolution. The characteristic 
 
68 FASTING FOR CURE 
 
 gain in vital force and in its expression, 
 strength, was absent in every instance; 
 and the signs of organic trouble appeared 
 in such wise as not to be mistaken. More 
 conclusive than all else, the autopsy in 
 each individual case disclosed derange- 
 ments in bodily machinery that, in any 
 event, would have ended in death, with or 
 without food. In these facts lies proof 
 beyond confutation that, barring organic 
 imperfections, improvement is certain, and 
 a cure is possible, yea probable, in every 
 application of the method. Death never 
 results from a properly conducted fast; it 
 cannot; for, with disease eliminated, hun- 
 ger returns, and Nature is ready and able 
 to maintain in health a reinvigorated sys- 
 tem mechanically equal to the ordinary 
 task of digestion. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 Mental and Bodily Reaction. 
 
 Bodily action may be brought about in 
 two ways. It may originate in the brain, 
 or it may be the result of causes not 
 cerebral. In either case the nerve centers 
 perform their functions, whether in the 
 inception of the thought or in the trans- 
 ference of the outward cause. 
 
 The act of moving one's hand, for 
 instance, may originate in the brain, or 
 it may occur through the fact that the 
 member is in close proximity to fire. In 
 the former condition, the act begins with 
 the thought in the brain, and the nervous 
 influence operates directly on the moving 
 muscles. In the second, the sensory nerves 
 inform the brain that the flesh is burning, 
 and the brain sets in motion the muscles 
 necessary for removal. In both instances 
 the moving power emanates from the 
 brain, and this phenomenon may take 
 
70 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 place with reference to any part of the 
 body. 
 
 Not only are the above facts true of the 
 voluntary muscles, but they are also ex- 
 hibited in a similar manner in heart, lungs, 
 stomach, and the functions generally. 
 Swallowing an emetic causes vomiting, the 
 mere sight or thought of a disgusting 
 object may have the same effect, and 
 imagination is oftentimes able to occasion 
 action like that produced by a powerful 
 drug or by a combination of physical con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Every organic act, healthy or diseased, 
 is due solely to a current sent from one 
 of the great nerve centers; and this may 
 be set in motion either indirectly by reflex 
 action or directly by feeling or thought. 
 Though the fact is generally acknowledged 
 that the mind and the emotions have great 
 influence over the body, few know to what 
 extent that influence operates. It is, in 
 some respects, almost unbounded. Every 
 bodily function may be hastened, delayed, 
 or totally suspended, and life itself may 
 be destroyed by a thought or an emotion 
 just as surely as by a poisonous drug. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 71 
 
 So much for the effect of the mind upon 
 the body. The question now puts itself, 
 ' ' Is this action reciprocal ? Does the physi- 
 cal condition equally affect the mind?" 
 Experience teaches that it not only does 
 have an equal effect, but that the results 
 of physical disease are always displayed 
 mentally ; and in melancholia, epilepsy, the 
 various manias and hypochondriacal dis- 
 turbances, the great and only cause is 
 found in diseased digestive functions. 
 
 The fibers of the pneumogastric nerve 
 are distributed principally to the lungs 
 and stomach; hence its name. Whatever 
 the motor functions that this nerve sup- 
 plies, it influences largely the process of 
 digestion; for, when its fibers are cut be- 
 low those branches that extend to the 
 trachea, digestion is virtually suspended. 
 
 Nervous influence is essential to the 
 proper action of the stomach, and in its 
 region the nerves interlace one with an- 
 other so that even though the direct road 
 be destroyed, by-paths will still remain 
 for the passage of nervous power. If the 
 nervous influence were not needed in di- 
 gestion, no reason would exist why its 
 
72 PASTING FOR THE 
 
 withdrawal should arrest the process ; and 
 we know as a fact that overstudy, worry, 
 anxiety, fright, and anger suspend, 
 through nervous influence, all digestive 
 action. The cause is clear when the close 
 connection between brain and ganglia is 
 considered. If nervous energy is ex- 
 hausted in directions other than those 
 necessary for the digestion of food, the 
 same result follows as in the case of a 
 severed pneumogastric nerve. 
 
 In health the constructive and destruc- 
 tive changes that take place in the human 
 body progress without undue outward ef- 
 fect so long as waste material is promptly 
 removed, and nutritive pabulum is sup- 
 plied. In conditions of debility and weak- 
 ness, where either the influx is too great 
 for the demand, or the waste too much for 
 the eliminating organs to dispose of, ab- 
 sorption of the toxins formed in the fer- 
 menting mass of food rubbish retained in 
 the intestines is continually going on, and 
 the subject becomes a victim of auto- 
 intoxication, is drunk with the products of 
 his own decomposition. This condition 
 long continued is no less baneful in effect 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 73 
 
 than alcoholic saturation, and insanity of 
 some sort or other is its ultimate destina- 
 tion. 
 
 Further exposition seems almost un- 
 necessary to demonstrate the results of 
 physical condition upon nerve centers. 
 The cause of mental disease is one and the 
 same with that of physical disturbance; 
 the physical signs precede the nervous 
 ones and should be heeded ere it be too 
 late. 
 
 The close connection between the mental 
 and physical is always prominently dis- 
 played in the consequences of the fast; 
 and never more so than in the treatment 
 of melancholia, and of those morbid de- 
 pressions that often lead to confinement in 
 state institutions. These cases originate 
 in abuse of the digestive organs, which 
 coupled with hereditary tendencies af- 
 fects the nerve centers and ultimately the 
 brain. 
 
 In fasting these patients, improvement 
 is always evident after a short time of 
 preparation on low diet and omitted 
 meals; and, as the complete fast pro- 
 gresses, the return to sanity keeps pace 
 
74 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 with the physical advance. A general fact 
 observed in this class is the presence of 
 prodigious quantities of black, foul-smell- 
 ing discharges from the bowels, discharges 
 that do not seem to cease either in quan- 
 tity or in vileness until long after the 
 period indicated in ordinary disease symp- 
 toms. Mucus forms also a large part of 
 the matter brought away by the enema. 
 
 The value of fasting in cases of extreme 
 nervousness and of insanity is almost 
 unknown to alienists; but in future it is 
 bound to play an important part in mental 
 as it will in all disease. Fasting never 
 caused a loss of mind power ; its tendency 
 is in the opposite direction; and to refute 
 the criticism that prolonged abstinence 
 from food results in insanity, the author 
 points to considerably over one thousand 
 continuous fasts in which no case de- 
 veloped aught but improvement in brain 
 function. 
 
 All functional derangements not cor- 
 rected lead finally to organic disease. In 
 the latter some part of the bodily appa- 
 ratus is mechanically unable to perform 
 its work ; its structure is injured or essen- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 75 
 
 tially imperfect. In functional disease, the 
 structure of the apparatus shows no de- 
 rangement nor any morbid condition, but 
 yet it acts inefficiently. That drugs do not 
 affect brain structure is today well estab- 
 lished; that insanity in most instances 
 causes no deterioration in cell or nerve 
 tissue is equally well known; and, in the 
 latter fact is contained strong collateral 
 proof that the source of mental disturb- 
 ance must be sought elsewhere than in the 
 instrument of thought. Injuries and dis- 
 ease manifested by change in brain tissue 
 will derange its operation, and, in soften- 
 ing of the brain or in any inflammation, 
 there are organic alterations in nerve sub- 
 stance that may be seen and noted on 
 examination. But, in hysteria, epilepsy, 
 or mania, no changes of structure can be 
 observed, notwithstanding evident func- 
 tional disorder. 
 
 The work that the brain can do depends 
 upon the physical condition of the instru- 
 ment and of its source of supply, body 
 tissue. A functionally perfect brain re- 
 sults from a physically perfect body; and 
 yet the brain is not the producer of energy 
 
76 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 or vitality, nor of the mental processes ; it 
 acts simply as a transformer, and it no 
 more thinks than do the words that ex- 
 press the thought. It would seem that 
 mind and matter join only through will, 
 and that the real man is altogether what 
 conscious purpose makes him. 
 
 For the sake of forcing home the central 
 fact about which cluster the underlying 
 truths of physical life, it may again be 
 stated that energy and vitality exist out- 
 side of and independent of the body, as 
 they do within it. Through the dynamo 
 of the human machine, the brain, energy 
 is liberated as needed; and, as has been 
 shown, the brain recovers from fatigue by 
 rest and sleep, and not by food. Its suste- 
 nance is obtained from body tissue, and it 
 is recharged, we know not how. Food is 
 not the sole source of strength; it serves 
 the purely mechanical purpose of rebuild- 
 ing the body by cell replacement or 
 growth. 
 
 In this connection, whatever be the final 
 solution, the theory that body heat de- 
 pends upon consumption of food in the 
 processes of digestion and assimilation is 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 77 
 
 certainly subject to modification. It is true 
 that excess of food causes rise in tempera- 
 ture, or fever; but this is due to combus- 
 tion in the intestines and consequent 
 poison in the veins. The opposite is at 
 times observed, for body temperature may 
 be habitually below register. In either 
 condition, abstinence from food restores 
 temperature and pulse to normal. Hence, 
 without attempting a complete solution of 
 the problem, the actual facts are here pre- 
 sented to be considered with those ad- 
 vanced concerning the greater question of 
 life, as revealed in the source of vitality 
 and energy. 
 
 The digestion of a meal, with the subse- 
 quent forcing of food rubbish through 
 stomach and bowels, costs brain power 
 more than any ordinary work of muscle or 
 of mind, and the result is loss to vitality, 
 as overfeeding never fails to show. Suffi- 
 cient food in a normal body means clear 
 thought and maximum brain force; more 
 than this entails excessive labor on the 
 organs of digestion and consequent over- 
 time charged to vitality. 
 
 From these facts and from the results 
 
78 FASTING FOR CURE 
 
 of the treatment as cited previously, it 
 should be clear that, as a fast progresses, 
 a condition almost purely mental is 
 reached, a condition in which the whole of 
 life is concerned solely with the intel- 
 lectual or spiritual side of Nature as dis- 
 tinguished from the material. Thus it is 
 that, in the fervor of concentration and of 
 introspection, the Yogi lives not eating; 
 thus it was that, in anticipation of the 
 test when every spiritual sense was valued 
 at its maximum perceptive worth, the 
 Christ abstained from food. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Sexual, Disease and the Fast. 
 
 In the fast the sexual desires, whether 
 formerly excessively or moderately active, 
 or in abeyance, are brought to normal; 
 and attention to diet and to right living 
 finds passion controlled and subservient 
 in all senses to will. While the fast is in 
 progress desire leaves, and in woman at 
 this time the menses do not usually ap- 
 pear. All nature rests and bides the day 
 when every function, including the highest, 
 may again take up its labor, restored to 
 pristine vigor and filled with the joy of 
 life and work. 
 
 Women, who for years have suffered at 
 their monthly periods, look in vain for the 
 usual pains, and do not recover for 
 months from the sense of fear lest they 
 again occur. With correct living the men- 
 strual difficulties have disappeared for 
 good and all. As a matter of fact the dis- 
 charge may not be present for several 
 
 79 
 
80 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 periods after the completion of the fast, 
 but finally it will return odorless and 
 healthy in appearance. Its absence should 
 occasion no alarm; but, on the other hand, 
 in a few instances in the experience of the 
 author, the menses have occurred during 
 the fast, almost viscid in consistency and 
 most offensive in odor. But this may be 
 regarded as the result of extreme conges- 
 tion of ovaries and uterus, and as a 
 natural cleansing of a clogged and filthy 
 reproductive system, all of which happens 
 in slighter degree in every woman. 
 
 Ordinarily ovarian congestion is over- 
 come and the impurities deposited in 
 these parts are eliminated in the usual 
 manner through the circulation, but the 
 extraordinary manifestation described 
 should produce no more alarm than the 
 absence of the menses during the fast. 
 Both are legitimate in origin, and are 
 signs of Nature's housecleaning. 
 
 While the menstrual flow is present in 
 the females of all mammals, it is barely 
 perceptible in some and in none is it so 
 great in quantity as in woman. She is 
 the only female in the whole animal king- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 81 
 
 dom that is compelled to undergo the 
 monthly inconvenience of copious dis- 
 charge from the uterus and its appendages. 
 This is the penalty attached by Nature to 
 thousands of years of use of the organs of 
 reproduction for other than legitimate 
 purposes, and is a beautiful illustration 
 of the universal law of compensation. 
 
 In treating the disease symptom known 
 as menorrhagia or excessive menstruation, 
 a fast of two or three days will reduce the 
 flow to nil; and in cases of foul or of 
 painful menstruation permanent relief is 
 obtained in less than twenty-four hours. 
 Heat and manipulation are helpful agents 
 in this connection, and they materially 
 hasten results. It is necessary to add that 
 in all cases of this kind a complete 
 cleansing is imperative if the results ob- 
 tained are to stand, and right living in 
 the future is a positive condition of con- 
 tinued well-being. 
 
 The menopause or change of life is a 
 period dreaded by all women. There is 
 never any certainty as to the consequences 
 it will produce, nor any method of telling 
 just how they will be manifested. Fasting 
 
82 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 has demonstrated that the menses may be 
 properly regulated, and that assurance as 
 to their recurrence is possible when right 
 living is practiced. The menopause is a 
 normal event, and every woman should 
 pass through it without pain, excessive 
 nervousness, or other evil effect. All 
 these things are possible to a system 
 cleansed by a fast. 
 
 Ever-present female troubles are un- 
 known to Nature when her dictates are 
 acknowledged and pursued. The fast and 
 subsequent treatment result in a set of 
 healthy muscles for the support of the 
 organs of reproduction, and in healthy 
 secretions for all purposes peculiar to 
 these parts. Judicious exercise strength- 
 ens the sustaining ligaments, and they do 
 not fail in their work if rightly used there- 
 after. 
 
 Woman's dress is responsible for many 
 of her physical weaknesses, and, without 
 entering into detail it is well to mention 
 here the one garment to which is at- 
 tributed so much of female woe. The 
 corset has no place in the wardrobe of 
 a sane, healthy, normal woman. Her own 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 83 
 
 muscles shape her form as Nature in- 
 tended, and any one of the sex, not posi- 
 tively deformed in bony structure, may 
 attain a perfect figure by correct living 
 and by proper exercise. In addition, the 
 corset causes a number of displacements 
 in woman's special organs; and lungs, 
 liver, and intestines suffer in many ways 
 from its constrictive effects. All gar- 
 ments should, as far as possible, hang 
 from the shoulders; and there should be 
 no restraining or binding cords, bones, or 
 elastics to restrict free movement, or to 
 hinder circulation. Lack of nourishment 
 is just as much to blame for disease ex- 
 pressed by symptoms located in the repro- 
 ductive system as is the corset. Muscles 
 not properly rebuilt, energy impeded in 
 the process of liberation, and intestines 
 filled with food rubbish, all combine in 
 the attack, and cause congestion, inflam- 
 mation, and sexual decay. 
 
 In connection with the sexual effects of 
 the fast and of diet, the experience of the 
 author has shown that children fed upon 
 a non-flesh basis develop sexually in a 
 gradual normal manner, and exhibit fewer 
 
84 FASTING FOR CURE 
 
 tendencies toward sexual abuse or perver- 
 sion than are found in those whose diet is 
 composed largely of meat. 
 
 Just what normal desire between the 
 sexes originally meant is somewhat dif- 
 ficult to state, but it is safe to assume that 
 normal sex relations were limited to pur- 
 poses of procreation. The fast restores 
 all functions to a primary condition, and 
 male as well as female find the sexual in- 
 stinct dominated by the intellect. During 
 the fast desire leaves, but is restored in 
 natural characteristic quality when disease 
 is eliminated and health returns. It is 
 well to add that the fast will invariably 
 restore normal sex functions though pre- 
 viously non-existent. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Enema. 
 
 Much has been written concerning the 
 enema or internal bath, and opinions vary 
 as to its efficacy and the results of its 
 continued use. In fasting, experience has 
 shown that daily flushing of the colon is 
 a positive necessity for success in the 
 treatment. This matter has been referred 
 to previously in the text, and it has been 
 established conclusively that the fluid state 
 of the waste thrown into the intestines at 
 this time admits of easy absorption and 
 of consequent septic poisoning. Peristaltic 
 action in the absence of fresh supplies of 
 food is sluggish, and absorption proceeds 
 despite the material. Hence the need for 
 prompt removal; and here the internal 
 bath is a staunch ally. 
 
 Objections are made to the use of the 
 
 enema on the scores that it is not natural 
 
 and that it tends to dilate the bowel. For 
 
 the moment, in answer to the first differ- 
 
 86 
 
86 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 ence, it is sufficient to say that laxatives 
 and cathartics are themselves against 
 Nature. To the second, a bit more detail 
 is needed in reply. 
 
 The enema should be administered in 
 the knee-chest posture, the Sims' position 
 of medicine, and in no other way. The 
 descending colon lies on the left side of 
 the lower trunk, and contains the bend 
 known as the sigmoid flexure, a device of 
 Nature for preventing too much pressure 
 by the contents of the bowel on the mus- 
 cles of the rectum and the anus. The 
 flexure breaks the straight fall from the 
 transverse portion of the large intestine 
 to the rectum, and acts as a containing 
 pouch. When the patient, in taking the 
 injection, lies on the right side, the water 
 is compelled to rise against gravity 
 around and through this bend, and the 
 colon is not completely flushed; indeed, it 
 is safe to conclude that, in this position, 
 not even the flexure itself is cleansed. 
 When the left side is down and the right 
 elevated, the condition is somewhat bet- 
 tered, for gravity has a chance to assist 
 as far as the bend from the descending 
 
CURE OP DISEASE 87 
 
 colon to the transverse; but here a new 
 difficulty occurs, for the transverse colon 
 is now a perpendicular tube and precludes 
 further progress against its contents and 
 gravity. When the injection is taken in 
 the sitting posture, the rectum alone is 
 affected, and dilatation will surely happen. 
 Hence there are but two positions in 
 which the whole of the colon will receive a 
 supply of water sufficient to soften its 
 hardened contents and to wash them away 
 from its walls. These are the knee-chest 
 posture and the shoulder-buttock, flat-on- 
 the-back, or Simon's position. The latter, 
 except in bed-ridden cases, is incon- 
 venient; but the former, once adopted, is 
 found to be comfortable and easily as- 
 sumed. In this attitude gravity assists 
 the water in its flow through the descend- 
 ing colon, and across the transverse; and, 
 on rising, a portion of the enema finds its 
 way, aided by the upright position, into 
 the ascending colon. If, as advised, not 
 one, but two, three, or four bags are used, 
 the bowel is completely flushed, and the 
 loosened matter is carried to the rectum 
 and evacuated. This of course means 
 
88 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 that the fluid from each bag with its addi- 
 tions be discharged before the contents of 
 the next bag are administered, for in this 
 way undue pressure and dilatation are 
 avoided. 
 
 The enema is a necessary adjunct in 
 fasting, and in health it is a most reliev- 
 ing and cleansing operation. Its use be- 
 comes in a short while a pleasure that 
 more than compensates for the slight in- 
 convenience. It is not intended to convey 
 the thought that the enema should be 
 taken daily in health, although no actual 
 harm need result; but the formation of a 
 habit is to be decried, and once, twice, or 
 three times a week answers all purposes. 
 So long as food is cooked food, and soft 
 food, and so long as it is not properly 
 masticated, so long will assistance be 
 needed in completely evacuating the 
 bowels. That this has been a recognized 
 fact for ages is evidenced by drug statis- 
 tics, for ninety per cent, of all medication 
 is aimed at the intestines. 
 
 The ordinary fountain syringe equip- 
 ment is sufficient for the administration of 
 the bath as described, and the short rectal 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 89 
 
 tube is long enough for all purposes when 
 the correct posture is assumed. Gravity 
 does the work. Fill the bag, preferably of 
 three-quart capacity, suspend it at con- 
 venient height, insert the tube, kneel upon 
 the floor or cushion, put the elbows on the 
 floor, and lower the head to the same level. 
 Now start the flow, which may easily be 
 regulated by the shut-off or by pinching 
 the tube between the forefinger and thumb. 
 
 It is possible that at first there may be a 
 slight griping sensation, and a sense of 
 fullness, but this is soon overcome; and, 
 when one is accustomed to the position, 
 the results of the enema are such that it is 
 more than deprivation to omit its use. 
 
 As the fast progresses, the bowel dis- 
 charges are, to say the least, startling. 
 From the first day until indications show 
 that the cleansing process is logically 
 ended, quantities of blackish-brown foul- 
 smelling liquid are evacuated, and mixed 
 with this are lumps of hardened fecal mat- 
 ter dislodged from the walls of the intes- 
 tines or impacted from solid particles ex- 
 creted in elimination. Another feature, 
 more or less noticeable in long fasts, is the 
 
90 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 great amount of stringy white or yellow- 
 ish mucus that comes away with each 
 internal bath. It seems that the intestines 
 themselves are sloughing, so complete is 
 the renewal that occurs when the method 
 is carried to culmination. Where inflamed 
 conditions are present, blood may be in 
 evidence during early stages; but, as the 
 fast proceeds, soreness and ulceration 
 rapidly disappear; and the discharges be- 
 come, as described, simple results of 
 elimination. 
 
 Soap-suds, salt, soda, and the like 
 should be avoided in the preparation of 
 the enema. Absorption of a portion of 
 the contents of each bag is almost instan- 
 taneous, and the safer plan is to use no 
 foreign substance whatever. Copious dis- 
 charge from the bladder immediately 
 after rectal injection is the common indi- 
 cation of the rapidity with which absorp- 
 tion takes place from the colon. 
 
 Oftentimes in illness food is supplied to 
 the body by injections per rectum. It 
 would be deemed an act of insanity to 
 deliver drinking water to household 
 faucets through the sewers of a city. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 91 
 
 Analogy is plainly evident in the methods 
 of transmission named, and so-called nutri- 
 tious enemata are so absolutely against 
 Nature, and so disgusting to the thought, 
 that reason seems lacking in the mind that 
 suggests them. Similarly injections of oil 
 of any kind are to be decried, and warmed 
 plain water, or distilled water, if pollution 
 of any sort is feared, should be the only 
 flushing agent. 
 
 Judicious use of the enema is a certain 
 preventive of extreme congestion in 
 rectum and in anus. Hemorrhoids are un- 
 known to the habitual employer of a prop- 
 erly administered weekly or semi-weekly 
 internal bath. And more, in conjunction 
 with the fast, no case of piles will with- 
 stand the warm water injection, but will 
 quickly disappear as the system reverts 
 to normal. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Children in the Fast. 
 
 Children respond to the fasting treat- 
 ment in a marvelous way, for, where in- 
 nate vitality is great or has not been 
 drawn upon by years of overeating or of 
 physical abuse, the outcome is assured 
 and is most rapid in accomplishment. In 
 the adult toxins are quickly manufactured, 
 but are not thrown off as they are pro- 
 duced; in youth this fatigue poison is 
 eliminated more quickly than upbuilding 
 takes place. These facts are illustrated 
 when overexertion occurs, for the man 
 succumbs to auto-intoxication, but the 
 child suffers from actual exhaustion or 
 want of potential. 
 
 Beginning at birth, the desire on the 
 part of a baby's immediate family seems 
 to consist in forcing food upon the new- 
 comer. If the mother be not ready for the 
 operation, the cow is called upon, and the 
 result is colic or disease at the very 
 
 92 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 93 
 
 threshold of the poor mite's existence. It 
 never harms an infant to delay feeding 
 within reason nntil the mother can take 
 care of her legitimate work, or until natu- 
 ral supplies can be furnished. Nature has 
 stored in the tissue of the child sufficient 
 for its support for from three to five days, 
 and a great error is committed when feed- 
 ing is begun too soon. 
 
 The story of the average baby's early 
 years contains successive fifteen-minute 
 paragraphs of eating. Its waking moments 
 are devoted to the business of the mouth 
 and stomach, and the habit of chewing is 
 formed for it long before it can talk. This 
 may be called instinct, but it is almost all 
 due to training either by mother or by 
 nurse. 
 
 Some day, perhaps, sane feeding of 
 young children will be the rule, but until 
 then the usual infantile disease symptoms 
 will manifest themselves. The contention 
 that all disease has its origin in impaired 
 digestive power is more strongly upheld 
 when disturbances occur in the young than 
 when the adult organism is affected. In 
 the child, unaccustomed to continued 
 
94 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 abuse of the body and its functions, with 
 no habits formed, the system resents any 
 but natural treatment. If the contrary is 
 persistently administered, some such dis- 
 ease symptom as cholera infantum, diph- 
 theria, or scarlet fever develops, which, 
 like other ills, are results of false stand- 
 ards in habit and in diet. 
 
 The infant from birth through the first 
 two years of its existence should never be 
 fed more than four times daily, and night 
 feeding should not be thought of. As in 
 the adult, when disease appears, prompt 
 withholding of food removes the imme- 
 diate cause of disturbance; an enema or 
 several of them clears the digestive prod- 
 ucts from the bowels; fever drops at 
 once; diarrhoea and colic disappear; and 
 in two or three days at longest the young- 
 ster is whole and hearty again. A fast of 
 a day is most beneficial to even the young- 
 est of babes. No alarm need be felt, and 
 Nature readjusts the little system most 
 rapidly, so that the functions resume their 
 labors rested and invigorated. 
 
 In this connection it is well to mention 
 that the mental condition of a nursing 
 
CURE OP DISEASE 95 
 
 mother will, at times, bring about such 
 changes in the milk of her breasts as to 
 cause serious illness in the sucking child. 
 Mother's milk, affected by a mother's 
 mind, becomes, through functional de- 
 rangement of nerve force, a virulent 
 poison; and as surely as the babe is fed 
 with milk secreted in circumstances that 
 show grief, or anxiety, or anger, so surely 
 will its digestive apparatus reflect the 
 mental state of the mother. 
 
 The recuperative powers of a child are 
 wonderful when allowed to display them- 
 selves; and it takes many years of abuse 
 to dispel vitality from a young body. 
 Perhaps better illustration may be thrown 
 upon the subject by describing the treat- 
 ment of the mysterious and dreaded 
 disease symptom known to medicine as 
 cerebro-spinal meningitis. The death rate 
 of this disorder is over ninety per cent., 
 and medicine is at sea concerning its 
 origin, its treatment, and its cure. As its 
 site at the base of the brain precludes any 
 but post-mortem examination, it bids 
 fair to occupy an impregnable position 
 from a medical standpoint for some time 
 to come. 
 
96 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 As the name implies, cerebro-spinal 
 meningitis is an inflammation of one of 
 the meninges or coverings of the spinal 
 cord, the covering known as the pia mater. 
 This immediately surrounds the cord, and 
 as the inflammation develops at or near 
 the point where the latter joins the brain 
 substance, it is a symptom to be feared in 
 even its milder forms. Its causes are 
 stated in the text-books to be shocks, 
 lacerations, or concussions; disease symp- 
 toms located near the seat of trouble or 
 in close connection with the spinal cord; 
 sometimes acute disease symptoms that 
 may or may not be connected ; and, though 
 very rare, excessive mental work or excite- 
 ment. The symptoms occur more often in 
 the young, although they may and do ap- 
 pear in adults, but much less frequently. 
 
 In conjunction with the inflammation, 
 bacteriologists have discovered a coccus 
 known as the "Diplococcus Fraenkel," 
 and named for the scientist who first sepa- 
 rated and classified the germ. This organ- 
 ism, also, is always found in the lungs in 
 acute pneumonia, and there seems to be a 
 close relation between the two disease 
 symptoms, at least in some of their forms. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 97 
 
 When first attacked, the signs are 
 nausea, headache at the base of the brain, 
 and fever that may at once leap to 104 
 or 105 degrees. The pulse is variable but 
 more often slow. In the so-called epidemic 
 form a skin eruption is one of the 
 features. The progress of the conditions 
 is rapid, and in acute cases from three to 
 five days mark its limit. Even in the 
 earlier stages there is delirium, and in 
 the later ones coma ending in death occurs. 
 
 Medical treatment calls for nutrition 
 every three or four hours, either in the 
 natural way or per rectum. Hot applica- 
 tions to the extremities are used to keep 
 the blood from the head, and bleeding was 
 formerly resorted to, though it is forbid- 
 den today. Drugs for allaying pain and 
 delirium are also brought into play, but 
 no specific has been found in all materia 
 medica, nor ever will be. 
 
 However, the remedy exists, as it does 
 for all disease, when vitality has not been 
 permanently clogged in its transfer by 
 abuse and maltreatment. The moment 
 that disease is recognized in its true light 
 as Nature's cure, the real and only specific 
 
98 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 is discovered, — rest for the overworked 
 parts of the machine, and renewal for 
 those functions that need repair. 
 
 Referring to a former remark concern- 
 ing feeding during high temperature, why, 
 in the symptom under discussion or in 
 any other, put food into a system burning 
 with fever? Adding fuel to an over- 
 heated stove is ordinarily not a rational 
 way of damping the fire. Until disease 
 appeared the patient was feeding, and in 
 all probability was stricken with a full 
 stomach. Fever is due to absorption of 
 rotting food rubbish in the alimentary 
 canal, and when food is forced into this 
 mass, either from above or below, the re- 
 sults are increased temperature and more 
 acute illness. Drugs administered in the 
 circumstances are stimulants or narcotics ; 
 the former raise the action of the heart 
 and with it the temperature, and the latter 
 lower nerve transmission. 
 
 Rationally the method to be employed 
 should remove the cause of the condition, 
 and the first step in its accomplishment is 
 found in the absolute withdrawal of food. 
 The next is taken in the removal of all 
 
 ^ 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 99 
 
 traces of food rubbish that remain in the 
 intestines, and this should be done with 
 the utmost celerity. Warm water enemas 
 of plain water properly given will flush 
 the colon, and before the first day is ended, 
 the major portion of the mass of poison- 
 ous filth will have been removed. The re- 
 sults are at once apparent: fever drops 
 one, two, three degrees; delirium ceases; 
 and the patient is a long way towards re- 
 covery. 
 
 To assist in lowering temperature, cold 
 compresses may be applied along the 
 spine and over the abdomen, but cold 
 water should be used only when reaction 
 is prompt and vigorous. If there be ten- 
 dency to chill, artificial heat must be em- 
 ployed, and in any event hot water appli- 
 cations to the base of the brain and along 
 the spinal column, continuously laid, are 
 of vital import in reducing inflammation. 
 Each day should see the details of the 
 method carefully and constantly followed, 
 for success depends upon faithfulness in 
 every particular. Food must not be given 
 until fever has entirely disappeared, and 
 fruit juices and vegetable broths afford 
 the best introduction to more solid forms. 
 
100 FASTING FOR CURE 
 
 Cerebro-spinal meningitis is at times so 
 prevalent in a community as to lead to 
 the assumption that it is either contagious 
 or infectious, both classifications having 
 been made by authorities presumably com- 
 petent. It will be found, however, that the 
 so-called epidemic usually occurs after a 
 season during which children have been 
 housed and have suffered from lack of 
 exercise and from contaminated air in 
 close quarters. The ever-present germ finds 
 in these subjects inviting soil in which 
 to propagate, and many victims ready for 
 its cultivation. Herein lies the sole reason 
 for the number of cases frequently de- 
 veloped in late winter or in early spring. 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 Diet. 
 
 Diet at any time is largely a matter of 
 special need, but it would seem that, after 
 a course of fasting, the success of which 
 depends upon reduction to normal in all 
 respects, certain set rules might be laid 
 down to apply in every case. Even here, 
 however, peculiar requirements develop in 
 each individual. The sins of generations 
 of ancestors are in great measure respon- 
 sible for these conditions, and empiric 
 methods must be used to determine the 
 foods necessary to supply nourishment in 
 proper quantity, distribution, and propor- 
 tion. 
 
 Taste figures more than aught else in 
 the selection of food material in health. 
 It is popularly believed that when an arti- 
 cle of food is not repugnant to the sense of 
 taste, it is wholesome and healthful, and 
 that harm cannot result from its ingestion. 
 
 The fallacy of such doctrine is easily 
 
 101 
 
102 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 shown, for tastes are generally abnormal 
 and perverted, and their variations are 
 such that a volume could be filled with 
 strange tales concerning them. The ques- 
 tion resolves itself into not how much can 
 be eaten, nor how pleasant is the process, 
 but what is the body's need? 
 
 It is true that, after a fast, all natural 
 food is agreeable to the taste, and is de- 
 sired with hunger inspired by a clean, 
 healthy system that asks wholesome nour- 
 ishment, and that fully enjoys its inges- 
 tion and digestion. Simple foods, prop- 
 erly prepared and correctly proportioned 
 as to quanta of fats, carbo-hydrates, and 
 protein, and the mineral salts necessary, 
 are what the dietitian and the individual 
 should aim to supply. The fast is over, 
 the system cleansed, and the digestive 
 organs are in full vigor and waiting to 
 make pure blood and pure tissue from 
 proper food. 
 
 No further demonstration is needed to 
 show that mankind habitually overeats, 
 and that, as a result, nutritive material is 
 absorbed in quantity beyond the require- 
 ments of the body. The system is loaded 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 103 
 
 with an unnecessary burden, and the 
 machinery is hampered in its operation. 
 But just as the liver stands guard, in so 
 far as it may, over matter absorbed, and 
 just as it separates the good from the 
 bad ; so at the very inception of the diges- 
 tive process, the mouth with its armor 
 of teeth and its salivary apparatus deter- 
 mines in large degree the amount of food 
 needed in nutrition. 
 
 The mouth holds the nerves of taste; 
 taste is enjoyed in the mouth, and taste 
 has its great purpose in deciding just 
 when food has been ground between the 
 teeth sufficiently to prepare it for the suc- 
 cessive processes. Taste disappears when 
 food has been properly insalivated, and 
 too much chewing cannot be done, since 
 the benefits derived are immeasurable, 
 even apart from the comminution of 
 solids. The mouth easily accomplishes 
 this work when the habit has been ac- 
 quired, but if it perform it carelessly, a 
 great deal of extra labor is placed upon 
 the other organs of digestion. The sub- 
 ject of mastication is most important, and 
 its value in digestive economy is excel- 
 
104 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 lently treated in "The A-B-Z of Our Own 
 Nutrition," by Horace Fletcher. 
 
 Fletcher says: "When food is filtered 
 into the body after having become lique- 
 fied and made alkaline, or at least neu- 
 tral, by saliva, the appetite is given a 
 chance to measure the needs of the body 
 and to discriminate against excess. As 
 soon as the point of complete saturation 
 of any one deficiency is reached, the appe- 
 tite is cut off as short as possible with no 
 indication of stomach fullness. It will 
 welcome a little of proteid, and then turn 
 to sugar or fat in some of their numerous 
 forms. Thirst for water will assert itself 
 for a moment, sometimes asking but for 
 a drop, and again for a full glass; and, 
 afterwards, when near the point of com- 
 plete saturation, appetite will hesitate for 
 a moment, as if searching around for 
 some rare substance, and may find its 
 final satisfaction in a single spoonful of 
 sweet or a sip of something in sight. 
 
 "The appetite, satisfied by the infilter- 
 ing process, is a sweetly appeased appe- 
 tite, calm, rested, contented, normal. There 
 is no danger from the flooding of intern- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 105 
 
 perance, for there is not even toleration 
 of excess either of more food or of more 
 drink, and this contented appetite will 
 remain in the condition of contentment 
 until another need has really been earned 
 by evaporation or destructive katabol- 
 ism." 
 
 In these conditions lies the solution of 
 the problem of overeating. Mastication, 
 carried to the degree that taste is dissi- 
 pated, absolutely precludes eating save 
 for the needs of metabolism. The supply 
 is made equal to the demand, neither more 
 nor less; and intemperance in all forms is 
 effectively prevented. 
 
 A scientific discussion of the question of 
 diet is manifestly out of place in this text. 
 Authorities differ widely, and none in the 
 author's ken has ever dealt with feeding 
 from the standpoint met after a fast, with 
 a stomach made over, so to speak. Here 
 we deal with first principles, and infant 
 dietetics do not require as much care and 
 attention as do those of the faster learn- 
 ing again to eat. 
 
 To repeat, diet is largely a matter of 
 special need; but, generally, a fast should 
 
106 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 be broken on vegetable broths or on ripe 
 fruit juices. Artificial aids like season- 
 ing are not at all missed, for hunger and 
 proper mastication supply enjoyment that 
 must be experienced to be appreciated. 
 Within a day or two the amount of food 
 may be increased, and solids in the forms 
 of vegetables and fruits may be fed in 
 quantity sufficient to satisfy hunger, but 
 not more. In a week nuts should be 
 added to the dietary, and raw foods 
 should always form part of the list. The 
 ideal nutriment for the human body is 
 found in raw or live food; but, in exist- 
 ing circumstances, a return to its use is 
 problematical. The best advice that can 
 be given makes imperative thorough mas- 
 tication of every morsel, after exercising 
 due care in its selection. 
 
 Meat in any form should never enter 
 the food supply of normal man. Argu- 
 ments pro and con have long been ex- 
 changed on this subject, and advocates of 
 the strongest will combat the non-flesh 
 diet for years to come. Two reasons will 
 serve to refute this error in hygiene, and 
 they are these : 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 107 
 
 First, dead animal tissue holds within 
 it the products of metabolism, both con- 
 structive and destructive. The process 
 of change is suddenly arrested when the 
 animal is killed, and its juices contain 
 toxins not thrown off that no amount of 
 cooking can destroy. For that matter, 
 even were they completely annihilated, 
 flesh is still vegetable tissue with the 
 waste of change combined in its struc- 
 ture, and it seems more logical to consume 
 the vegetab-° at first hand. 
 
 Mr. Otto Carque, in his ' ' Errors of Bio- 
 chemistry," says: " There is also a 
 marked physiological difference between 
 plant and animal food. Animals are dis- 
 tinguished from vegetables by incessant 
 decay in every tissue, a decay which is 
 proportional to animal activity. This in- 
 cessant decay necessitates incessant re- 
 pair, so that the animal body has been 
 likened to a temple on which two opposite 
 forces are at work in every part, the one 
 tearing down, the other repairing the 
 breach as fast as it is made. In plants, 
 no such incessant decay has ever been 
 discovered. If it exists at all, it must be 
 
108 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 very trifling in comparison. Protoplasm, 
 it is true, is taken from the older parts 
 of the plant, and these parts die; but the 
 protoplasm does not seem to decompose, 
 but is used again for tissue building. 
 Thus the internal activity of animals is 
 of two kinds, tissue destroying and tissue 
 building, while that of plants is principally 
 of one kind, tissue building. Flesh foods 
 will, therefore, impart less vitality to our 
 system than plant foods, because the for- 
 mer always contain a quantity of sub- 
 stances which have undergone the various 
 stages of katabolism and have lost their 
 vital force by producing animal heat and 
 energy. We feel drowsy and indolent 
 after a heavy meal of meat, while an 
 apple, an orange, a bunch of grapes in- 
 stantly refreshes us. The theories that 
 flesh makes flesh, that blood is converted 
 into blood, that calf's or sheep's brain 
 increases our mental capacity, that meat 
 is predigested plant food, cannot stand 
 in the light of physiological chemistry/ ' 
 Second, late experiments carried out 
 most thoroughly by Irving Fisher, Pro- 
 fessor of Political Economy at Yale Uni- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 109 
 
 versity, show beyond any chance of refu- 
 tation that the physical endurance of the 
 human body is increased to the utmost by 
 a non-flesh diet. In these experiments 
 meat-eating athletes competed in test ex- 
 ercises with non-meat eaters, both seden- 
 tary and athletic. The results were so 
 largely in favor of the non-flesh diet that 
 the most ardent advocates in opposition 
 can find no loophole to escape the facts. 
 
 No adequate explanation is as yet avail- 
 able for the evident superiority of a vege- 
 tarian diet over one of flesh as regards 
 endurance, save, perhaps, in the theory 
 that a diet composed in greater part of 
 proteid produces uric acid and other crys- 
 talline substances, which in turn cause 
 muscular fatigue in exercise. The facts 
 are patent in these instances as they are 
 in all of the author's own experiments 
 carried on during the past eight years 
 along similar lines. A non-flesh diet 
 makes a consistently strong and enduring 
 physical structure, and the reverse is true 
 when meat forms part of the food ingested. 
 
 In the past facts like these have been 
 obscured, and the truth has suffered, as 
 
110 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 is so often the case, because the idea con- 
 tained in the term " vegetarian' ' sug- 
 gested what is popularly regarded as 
 fanaticism gone mad. Any doctrine ad- 
 vanced with polemical warmth, coupled 
 with enthusiasm and dogma almost relig- 
 ious, has but small degree of influence 
 upon scientific thought. The matter 
 should be approached calmly and with 
 the seriousness due to a question that is 
 of more practical import than any in the 
 whole subject of hygiene. When this 
 occurs, the theory embodied in the results 
 of the tests mentioned, and of those con- 
 ducted by the author, will be fully borne 
 out and established as fact. 
 
 With the individual himself rests the 
 selection of a healthful and properly dis- 
 tributed food supply. The first thing to 
 consider is the amount of food necessary 
 for the body, and this depends upon phys- 
 ical characteristics, occupation, and the 
 nature of the subject's physical exercises. 
 The laboring man breaks down more tis- 
 sue in shorter time than does the banker 
 or the clerk; yet. usually, the latter do 
 not eat fewer meals or less at a sitting 
 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 111 
 
 than their burly brother. What is needed 
 for the one is more than sufficient for the 
 others. A mean may be established by the 
 brain-worker should he devote his spare 
 moments to outdoor recreation, or to 
 manual labor; but, even then, equilibrium 
 is scarcely reached, and he still eats far 
 in excess of his requirements. The labor- 
 ing man too is at fault in this respect, for, 
 unless his be an exceptional case, the basis 
 of diet is starch, which demands enormous 
 bulk for satisfaction. The digestion of 
 food of this kind is a great tax on the 
 digestive tract and on its controlling 
 nerves. 
 
 In order to correct the conditions as 
 described, the simplest remedy is to cut 
 down the food supply. Perhaps the easi- 
 est method to follow is to omit one of the 
 regular meals, and once the habit is ac- 
 quired, the early morning breakfast is not 
 even missed, while reason indicates that 
 it is the meal to be dropped. The brain 
 and the nerves are recuperated by rest 
 alone, and food or its absence causes no 
 change in their functions. In fact, the 
 presence of food in the stomach acts detri- 
 
112 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 mentally on reasoning power, since it 
 calls energy elsewhere and deprives the 
 brain of just so much of its force. The 
 whole mental and nervous systems, re- 
 freshed by the night's rest, are at their 
 maximum of energy in the early morning; 
 the blood has replaced the waste carried 
 away during sleep, and the entire fabric 
 stands at the threshold of the day ready 
 for anything but the process of digesting 
 food. There is no true hunger in the 
 morning; habit and appetite are respon- 
 sible for the craving felt at that time. 
 
 In much that is written concerning the 
 matter of diet there are so many sweeping 
 and conflicting statements, impossible 
 rules and foolish conclusions that it is no 
 wonder that many persons brush the whole 
 subject aside as being too complex for 
 them. 
 
 The trouble is that there are too many 
 who try to enforce their own personal 
 ideas upon others in this connection. 
 There are the ' 'cranks" who must have 
 something to be cranky about in any case, 
 and a " crank" who has picked up a little 
 scientific jargon and thinks he has cured 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 113 
 
 himself of something is a very persistent 
 person. Then there are those who have 
 been really cured of some ailment by a 
 diet that happens to suit their individual 
 requirements. They go about forever 
 afterward finding the same disease symp- 
 tom in every one they meet and offering 
 the same remedy. There are also the one- 
 food people, who are in continual search 
 of what not to devour, and who would re- 
 duce us all to whole wheat or pecans. 
 
 It is absurd for those who have not 
 made themselves familiar with the chem- 
 istry of foods to try to talk learnedly of 
 their action in human economy, and it may 
 be taken as an axiom that within the indi- 
 vidual capacity (which can be learned 
 only by individual experiment) variety in 
 diet is better than monotony. A diet that 
 is strictly limited to a few things trains 
 the stomach to adapt itself to those few, 
 and eventually trouble ensues when 
 change is attempted. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 Bathing and Feesh Air. 
 
 The skin of the human body serves a 
 threefold purpose: it protects the tissues; 
 it is a sensory organ; and it is an organ 
 of elimination. This latter function is all 
 important from a health viewpoint, for 
 the waste material discharged through 
 millions of pores daily is equal in quan- 
 tity to a large part of the solid matter 
 thrown off through the bowels. The cos- 
 tume of civilized man prevents complete 
 evaporation, and as a consequence this 
 refuse is partly dissipated, partly ab- 
 sorbed by the underclothing, and partly 
 deposited in dried form on the surface of 
 the skin. That great elimination takes 
 place from the pores is plainly evident 
 during a fast, for body odor is most 
 offensive, and the air of a room is quickly 
 tainted in spite of frequent bathing on 
 the part of the patient. A healthy skin 
 is a clean skin, and, while bathing the 
 
 114 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 115 
 
 outer surface of the body does not neces- 
 sarily mean internal cleanliness as well, it 
 is a long step towards its attainment. 
 
 There are those to whom the cold water 
 bath is a detriment, and in ill health it 
 should be indulged in only under direc- 
 tion. To be of benefit, it should be fol- 
 lowed by immediate reaction, demonstrated 
 in warmth and a general sense of exhilar- 
 ation. The time for a cold bath is early 
 morning, and to those whose vitality is 
 equal to the shock, the plunge is the easi- 
 est and best method of application. The 
 safest way, however, is to use a wet 
 towel or a sponge ; and, in case there is 
 aversion or shrinking, the water may be 
 lowered gradually in temperature from 
 tepid to cold. Unless the thought of the 
 bath is free from dread of shock, it is 
 best to make it tepid. As a cleanser the 
 cold bath is of little avail, for it is ordi- 
 narily taken without soap, and can remove 
 only surface filth. Its effect is simply 
 tonic, and in fasting it should never be 
 considered except under competent direc- 
 tion. 
 
 To cleanse the skin hot water is the 
 
116 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 only effective agent. The more bodily 
 exercise, the more clothing worn, and the 
 more food consumed, the more hot baths 
 are needed to insure cleanliness. As with 
 all things good, moderation and reason 
 should enter into its employ, and care 
 must be observed lest the relaxation that 
 results be not prolonged to the point of 
 weakness. In health the skin of the body 
 should be cleansed daily so that it may 
 continue to perform its functions in a 
 normal manner. Personal characteristics, 
 however, govern, and no fixed rule can 
 be laid down for general observance. 
 
 While fasting, the cold bath may prove 
 a too strenuous morning diversion, and 
 tepid water must be substituted. But 
 each day of abstinence requires a thorough 
 cleansing of the whole surface of the body 
 with hot water, soap, and the flesh brush 
 vigorously applied. At this time the skin 
 is eliminating with redoubled energy, and 
 the typical odor of body waste, as evi- 
 denced in the perspiration, is augmented, 
 oftentimes to the disgust of the patient 
 himself. Hence the necessity of the daily 
 bath is forced upon him reflexively. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 117 
 
 In connection with what may be called 
 the breathing function of the skin, it is a 
 well known fact that, if the surface of the 
 body be covered with a medium impervi- 
 ous to air, such as gold leaf, death will 
 ensue in a short time with all the symp- 
 toms of suffocation. Like the lungs, the 
 pores utilize oxygen and throw off car- 
 bonic acid gas. Woolen underclothing 
 with its absorbed perspiration acts in 
 every respect as a covering partially im- 
 pervious to air, and, while warmth is con- 
 served for a time, health suffers. Gar- 
 ments of wool worn next to the skin are 
 deadly enemies that custom, civilization, 
 and climate have raised against natural 
 law. Silk or cotton of light weight and 
 meshed in texture answer the require- 
 ments of both comfort and health. For 
 warmth, heavier outer garments suffice. 
 
 The night clothing should consist of 
 but one piece as light in weight as is pos- 
 sible, and in no conditions should any por- 
 tion of the clothes worn during the day 
 be permitted to remain in sleep. Bodily 
 warmth may be preserved by bed-clothing, 
 and it is far better to return to the ancient 
 
118 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 custom of the " naked bed" than to sleep 
 in underclothes. 
 
 Virtually all bodily functions are peri- 
 odical in both application and effect. In 
 the lower animals this is made quite evi- 
 dent, and is well illustrated in the annual 
 withdrawal that occurs at the time of 
 moulting in fowls, and at the hair-shed- 
 ding period in fur-bearing kinds. In man 
 and the animal kingdom generally, daily 
 renewal of nervous and muscular energy 
 is accomplished only at the regularly re- 
 curring hours of sleep; and not alone 
 does the renewal of nervous and muscular 
 energy take place at this time, but the 
 whole body and its functions are recuper- 
 ated. The processes of assimilation and 
 of elimination are most easily performed 
 during the healthful relaxation that sleep 
 brings ; and, while brain and nerve feeding 
 are in progress continuously, the great 
 period of rebuilding and of recuperation 
 lies in the unconscious moments of peri- 
 odical rest. Lost vitality, and with it, 
 strength, is restored; and, to the healthy 
 man, a night of sleep, when all but the 
 involuntary functions are relaxed and at 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 119 
 
 rest, brings a morning of strength and 
 renewed vitality. 
 
 If sleep be necessary in health, it is 
 much more essential during a fast; for 
 every advantage must be taken of every 
 natural aid toward elimination of disease; 
 and, in natural therapeutics, rest is all 
 important. In some instances, while the 
 fast is in progress, sleep is found difficult, 
 since at this time there is no digestion, 
 and Nature requires shorter intervals to 
 recuperate. With smaller draught upon 
 nervous energy, nervous and physical fa- 
 tigue is greatly lessened; but no alarm 
 need be felt, for here insomnia is a legiti- 
 mate effect of Nature's law. There are 
 also many cases in which sleep is both un- 
 disturbed and natural throughout the fast. 
 
 No caution should be necessary to em- 
 phasize the oft-repeated direction that 
 sleeping apartments must be well venti- 
 lated; but, sad to relate, the majority are 
 as yet ignorant in the larger sense of the 
 therapeutic value of fresh air constantly 
 applied. The healthy body fears neither 
 cold nor draughts, and it were better that 
 every window in the sleeping room be 
 
120 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 kept open; but at least sufficient communi- 
 cation should be had with outside air to 
 insure a continuous supply. 
 
 The importance of pure air as an aid to 
 health is, of course, based on the great 
 law that all purification is the result of 
 combustion or oxidation. Of the sub- 
 stances furnished body tissue by the blood, 
 oxygen is of highest value. Its want is 
 soonest felt, for, while muscle has within 
 itself a store of this gas, it does not pos- 
 sess sufficient to oxidize all that is offered 
 in waste. Muscular activity is dependent 
 to a great extent on the character of the 
 blood supply, which must be clear of 
 refuse and must contain oxygen enough to 
 insure complete combustion of waste prod- 
 ucts. The lungs receive oxygen from the 
 air, and deliver it to the blood, from which 
 they transfer and exhale carbonic acid 
 gas, the product of tissue oxidation. The 
 latter is a pungent asphyxiant, which in 
 quantities means instant death by suffo- 
 cation; and even a small amount has a 
 dulling effect upon breathing organisms. 
 It will be evident that prompt removal 
 and dissipation are necessary for perfect 
 functioning and for physical comfort. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 121 
 
 In the order of their importance in the 
 economy of his body, man needs air, 
 sleep, water, food, and exercise. Deprive 
 him of oxygen, and death is instantane- 
 ous; of sleep, and it is delayed but for a 
 time; and each in turn withheld brings 
 dissolution in its train. Lack of exercise 
 of muscle or of brain results in physical 
 or in mental atrophy if long continued; 
 but Nature resists to the utmost always, 
 and the human body may exist for years 
 with little or no physical work. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Medicai, Dogmas. 
 
 When called to see a patient, the first 
 act of a school physician is to study the 
 symptoms and all conditions underlying 
 these signs of disease — the work, the 
 worry, the exposure, the unusual strain 
 which the subject has sustained. With 
 the facts before him, together with what 
 he can learn of the man's temperament, 
 his tendencies, his vitality, he forms his 
 diagnosis. Until the doctor of medicine 
 has done these things, he can make no in- 
 telligent step towards relief. A diagnosis, 
 or a study of symptoms with a view of 
 determining the nature of the ailment, is 
 the basic move of the medical man; and 
 yet, when symptoms and tendencies are 
 noted and arranged, what has the physi- 
 cian discovered! Not the cause of disease, 
 but the sources of the symptoms, and not 
 always even these. 
 
 Careful perusal of the foregoing pages, 
 
 122 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 123 
 
 and careful comparison of personal experi- 
 ences with those cited in the text, should 
 convince even a prejudiced mind that but 
 one cause is primarily responsible for all 
 physical ills. The starting point of dis- 
 ease is impaired digestive power, with its 
 certain sequence, impure blood. If we 
 attack the symptoms, we leave the cause 
 untouched; our work is incomplete and 
 unsatisfactory; we have not assisted Na- 
 ture, but have only arrested her process 
 of cure. Sooner or later, disease will re- 
 assert itself, perhaps in other outward 
 form, but still the same in cause and in 
 effect. 
 
 Medicine is known as a remedial agent, 
 and drugs are, broadly speaking, either 
 stimulants or narcotics. The former occa- 
 sion great activity in the receptive organs, 
 and the latter paralyze the functions. 
 Some substances in Nature are harmless 
 if introduced into the human body by way 
 of the stomach, but are most deadly in 
 effect if placed directly in the blood. The 
 digestive juices act in the first instance, 
 perhaps at once, and neutralize the poison, 
 while the liver guards the circulation and 
 
124 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 separates the toxin wholly or in part from 
 nutritive matter. Hypodermically admin- 
 istered, no protection is afforded the vital 
 organs save that contained in themselves 
 and in the blood; and the efforts of lungs 
 and heart are very apparent as they act 
 upon the drug and attempt its elimination. 
 Medicine asserts that certain drugs influ- 
 ence certain organs; but a little thought, 
 guided by the above exposition, should 
 make clear the fact that the organ acts 
 upon the drug, which is at once a poison 
 and a stimulant. 
 
 In medical dictionaries whole pages are 
 devoted to the classification of bacteria 
 and of their higher forms, bacilli. These 
 living organisms exist in Nature at all 
 times and in all places, and their pres- 
 ence is assumed to be a menace to the 
 health of any individual or of any com- 
 munity. Specific remedies for the annihi- 
 lation of specific germs are continually 
 being sought, and materia medica is 
 flooded with lymphs and anti-toxins suffi- 
 cient to depopulate the universe. If the 
 germ be the real cause of certain disease 
 symptoms, why are not all individuals in 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 125 
 
 whom it is found attacked in the same 
 manner? If we are helpless in the grasp 
 of any bacillus, none of us can escape, 
 since it is ever-present. But, if it be not 
 the cause, we must admit an environment, 
 a soil for propagation; and herein lies 
 the solution of the vexed problem of so- 
 called epidemic disease. Destroy the gar- 
 den plot in which the growth may multi- 
 ply, attack the cause, and the knell of the 
 germ is rung. The juices of a normal 
 body absolutely prevent the propagation 
 of foreign life, except so much as is neces- 
 sary for scavenger work, for germ life in 
 Nature has its great purpose in policing 
 all organisms. Look not then for princi- 
 ples destructive to bacteria, but rather 
 seek to restore to normal the diseased 
 structure of the living body. 
 
 One word here concerning vaccination. 
 Back in the latter part of the eighteenth 
 century, Dr. Jenner heard a milkmaid re- 
 mark that she could never have smallpox, 
 for she had caught it previously from a 
 cow. Investigating the matter, the doc- 
 tor found, or thought he found, that no 
 one who had had cowpox ever had small- 
 
126 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 pox. He did not know anything about 
 germs, but lie reasoned much as the germ 
 theorists do today, and he inoculated some 
 of his friends, and they did not catch the 
 smallpox. This proved the theory, and 
 he was at once persecuted by the medical 
 profession. However, so persistently did 
 he plead his cause that vaccination became 
 a medical fetich, and it is now upheld, 
 with later discoveries just as reasonable 
 and just as true, to the everlasting harm 
 of those who have had the poison intro- 
 duced into healthy veins, and whose trust 
 in educated ignorance has not as yet been 
 destroyed. 
 
 Whenever man attempts to instruct Na- 
 ture or to overturn her methods, it is 
 more than probable that his intelligence 
 will suffer in the operation. He will dis- 
 cover that Nature's laws are immutable, 
 and that she reasons eternally from cause 
 to effect. In homely terms, she never 
 "puts the cart before the horse." Some- 
 times in the effort to right conditions that 
 are wrong, she produces results that are 
 hideous to the sight or painful to the 
 nerves ; yet these are but the consequences 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 127 
 
 of primary disease or impaired digestion. 
 Cancers, tumors, hideous running sores, 
 excrescences, and deformities, all are but 
 attempts on the part of Nature to balance 
 the physical scales, and to restore the 
 functions to normal; in other words, to 
 remove disease. If these efforts are sup- 
 pressed in one direction, they will surely 
 be asserted in another, perhaps more hide- 
 ous, or more painful. Hence the extirpa- 
 tion of a growth by knife or otherwise 
 does not remove the cause, and makes 
 repetition virtually certain. 
 
 In the process of evolution all things 
 change, our business methods, our theo- 
 ries, and our conceptions. To hold to the 
 dead past is to be dead ; to keep step with 
 inevitable change is to live. Man's aim 
 should be to form a part with new ideals, 
 to fashion them into practical things 
 whose end is found in the uplift that truth 
 discovered and followed gives to civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
 The word " science/ ' defined as "to 
 know," cannot apply to the practice of 
 medicine, for no practitioner on earth can 
 foresee the effect of his drug upon sue- 
 
128 FASTING FOR CURE 
 
 cessive patients. One may be stimulated, 
 another stupefied; and these results may 
 be interchanged in altered conditions. 
 The physician of the future will abandon 
 his nostrums; will forsake his symptoms, 
 except as local relief can be applied; and 
 will devote himself to prevention of dis- 
 ease, to the science embodied in the un- 
 changing laws of Nature. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Cases Teeated by Fasting. 
 
 The following cases treated by fasting 
 are typical but not exhaustive. They are 
 selected from a large number solely be- 
 cause of their representative character, 
 and as evidence that the fast reaches in- 
 discriminately but in like manner all 
 phases of functional bodily ills. 
 
 E. A., Minneapolis, Minn. Male; 17 
 years of age. 
 
 Typical disease symptom known as in- 
 flammatory rheumatism. The patient was 
 in most precarious condition when first 
 seen. His medical adviser had given up 
 the case, and had told the distracted 
 mother that the disease had "gone to the 
 heart," and that it was only a matter of 
 a day or two at farthest. All that he 
 could do was to ease the pain with opi- 
 ates, and thus provide the young man 
 with a peaceful passage into eternity. The 
 mother had heard of the results accom- 
 
 129 
 
130 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 plished by fasting, and, as a last resort 
 and with doubt in her mind, asked its aid. 
 The boy had been in bed for five weeks, 
 and his body exhibited all the evidences 
 of disease and of the remedies applied. 
 His left arm, wrist, and hand were greatly 
 swollen and painful, as were also both 
 knees and both ankles. The face was 
 flushed, the breathing stertorous, the pulse 
 fluttering and irregular, and the tempera- 
 ture 105 degrees. The working founda- 
 tion was flimsy in all respects, for the pre- 
 ceding five weeks were worse than lost 
 from a natural viewpoint. For two of 
 these weeks the heart action had been 
 stimulated with doses of digitalis and 
 strychnine; food had been forced upon a 
 rebellious stomach as many times daily as 
 the patient could be induced to swallow; 
 and, when pain had become too great to be 
 borne or delirium intervened, codein and 
 other opiates had been used unsparingly. 
 In addition, two quarts of brandy had 
 been poured into the drugged interior. As 
 the result of drugs and disease, the boy 
 could neither lie down nor sit up, and his 
 position was a painful compromise. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 131 
 
 Death seemed imminent, but food was at 
 once withdrawn, every vestige of drugs 
 was removed, and a slight massage treat- 
 ment was given to equalize the circulation 
 as much as was possible in the circum- 
 stances. At the end of a half hour, a 
 warm water enema brought away a large 
 quantity of fecal matter from the colon. 
 When treatment concluded, pulse and tem- 
 perature showed decided improvement, 
 while the patient was resting more quietly 
 and easily than he had in a week. 
 
 The second day of the fast was a trying 
 one, since the anxiety and fear of the fam- 
 ily, as well as the boy's weakness and 
 pain, had to be met. In cases of this kind 
 drastic measures are necessary, and vig- 
 orous application of massage and enema 
 brought temperature and pulse to lower 
 register once more. The third day the 
 swelling in the arm was reduced, and on 
 the fifth all pain had ceased; the swelling, 
 except in the ankles, was scarcely percep- 
 tible ; and, for the first time in weeks, the 
 boy was able to lie at length in his bed. 
 On this day also he had some hours of 
 natural sleep, and temperature and pulse 
 
132 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 were but slightly above normal. Even 
 this small difference was removed by the 
 morning of the sixth day. The patient 
 received two enemas daily for the first 
 week, and great masses of impacted feces 
 were removed at each operation. Bathing 
 of the body twice each day relieved dis- 
 comfort, and after the sixth day tub baths 
 were undertaken and proved of assistance 
 in the final reduction of filthy internal 
 conditions by aiding and increasing elim- 
 ination. 
 
 The fast was broken on the eleventh 
 day. Bath and massage treatment had 
 been invariably succeeded on each of the 
 last five days by a natural sleep of some 
 hours' duration. In breaking the fast, 
 tomato broth was fed morning and eve- 
 ning, and the diet was increased as the 
 patient became able to take care of the 
 addition. Five weeks from the date of 
 the first call, the young man was indulging 
 in a walk of five miles daily. Since the 
 completion of treatment, he has adhered 
 strictly to the diet and exercise advised, 
 and has developed into a healthy and 
 robust youth. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 133 
 
 George E. Davis, Minneapolis, Minn. 
 Male ; 61 years of age. 
 
 A case of paralysis of the entire right 
 side whose history is perhaps better told 
 as the patient himself recorded it from 
 day to day. His diary follows : 
 
 "Commenced the partial fast August 
 15, 1902, with two meals per day, drop- 
 ping down to one meal on the 20th. On 
 August 21st commenced the absolute fast, 
 which lasted forty full days and seven 
 hours, ending September 29th. 
 
 August 21. Simply a faint hungry feel- 
 ing. 
 
 August 22. An all-gone feeling, but no 
 excessive hunger; slight headache, but 
 no great discomfort; great belching of 
 gas ; slept well until about 2 a. m. 
 
 August 23. Bather weak but not ex- 
 cessively hungry; belching continues; 
 slept uneasily; mouth very foul and sick- 
 ening. 
 
 August 24. Enema in morning relieved 
 mouth, and I slept several hours after- 
 ward; no hunger, but mouth so bad at 
 evening that I took another enema, and 
 was relieved in bowels and mouth, which 
 
134 FASTING FOE THE 
 
 latter was nigh insufferable before the 
 enema; slept well until 2:30 a. m. 
 
 August 25. Continued foulness of 
 mouth; it is so distressingly foul it makes 
 me sick ' ' all over ; ' ' enema at night ; slept 
 well part of the night, but restless the 
 remainder; weight 214 pounds. Trip in 
 street cars very fatiguing. 
 
 August 26. About the same as yester- 
 day; feeling very weak; visited Doctor by 
 going on street cars. 
 
 August 27. Much better in every way; 
 stronger and bad taste is passing away; 
 slept fairly well last night; weight 210; 
 not hungry since the third day. 
 
 August 28. About the same as yester- 
 day with the exception of bad spell dur- 
 ing the night; retired at 11 p. m. and 
 slept until 3 a. m. ; sat up an hour, went 
 to bed again and slept until 6:30. 
 
 August 29. Much the same ; a very bad 
 taste in my mouth which makes me quite 
 sick; relieved condition somewhat by rins- 
 ing mouth with hot water; slept well, but 
 took no enema. 
 
 August 30. Better today, but distress- 
 ing mouth at night ; no desire whatever 
 for food; my only drink is water. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 135 
 
 August 31. About the same as yester- 
 day ; enema at night always removes quan- 
 tity of feces. 
 
 September 1. About the same as yes- 
 terday; enema at night removed consider- 
 able solid feces. 
 
 September 2. No marked change. 
 
 September 3. A little easier in the 
 morning; very bad mouth; weight, 204. 
 
 September 4. Two natural movements 
 of the bowels this morning; more vigor- 
 ous in general; tongue shows signs of 
 cleaning; slept well at night. 
 
 September 5. More vigor; distressing 
 mouth at night. 
 
 September 6. Natural movement of 
 the bowels in morning; depressed in the 
 afternoon and quite weak and sick at the 
 stomach; enema brought away consider- 
 able feces. 
 
 September 7. Bather depressed and 
 weak, especially toward night; much the 
 same generally as the day before. 
 
 September 8. Much the same as yes- 
 terday; enema at night removed quantity 
 of feces. 
 
 September 9. Bright and better in the 
 
136 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 first part of the day than at any other 
 time during the fast, but quite depressed 
 and sick at the stomach late in the after- 
 noon; slept well at night. 
 
 September 10. Awoke in the morning 
 feeling bad; weak all over and bad 
 mouth; took light exercise with no appar- 
 ent benefit; enema at night with quantity 
 of feces ; slept well until 1 a. m., but rest- 
 less afterward. 
 
 September 11. Much the same as yes- 
 terday, except not quite so distressed; 
 weight, 198; slept well first part of the 
 night, but no sleep after 1 a. m. ; Mrs. D. 
 accompanied me to Doctor's office. 
 
 September 12. Much depressed all 
 over, unable to go to the office, Doctor 
 calling on me in the evening; bad mouth. 
 
 September 13. Somewhat easier today, 
 but still much depressed; mouth in ter- 
 rible shape; slept well. 
 
 September 14. Eather uneasy day; 
 weak and worse at night; slept until 12 
 midnight, but only a little afterward; al- 
 most unbearable mouth. 
 
 September 15. Enema at morning and 
 night with usual results as to quantity 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 137 
 
 and color; mouth, throat, and stomach 
 bad, but slept well. 
 
 September 16. About a repetition of 
 yesterday. 
 
 September 17. Stronger in the fore- 
 noon, but bad in the afternoon ; inclination 
 to vomit; enema with customary results. 
 
 September 18. Quite weak today; bad 
 mouth, very offensive; slept well first 
 part of the night, but uneasy afterward. 
 
 September 19. Better in the forenoon, 
 but bad in the afternoon; uneasy broken 
 sleep at nigut; enema at night with slight 
 traces of feces. 
 
 September 20. "Weak and uneasy with 
 inclination to vomit; gagging spells, large 
 amount of slime in the mouth; slept well. 
 
 September 21. Symptoms continue; in 
 bed all day; Doctor visited me in the 
 morning; vomited slime of reddish color; 
 distress in the stomach ; slept well ; enema, 
 no feces. 
 
 September 22. About the same as yes- 
 terday; kept to the bed; Doctor came 
 morning and evening. 
 
 September 23. Visited the Doctor's of- 
 fice, but weak; a bad day; enema at night 
 
138 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 brought away a quantity of dark foul- 
 smelling feces; slept well but awoke in 
 the morning gagging. 
 
 September 24. Better today and strong- 
 er; weight, 188; bad mouth continues. 
 
 September 25. Felt quite well in the 
 morning, but the day developed into the 
 worst of the fast thus far ; easier at night ; 
 enema with little results; slept well. 
 
 September 26. Somewhat better this 
 forenoon, but ill in afternoon; restless 
 night; in bed all day. 
 
 September 27. Uneasy and restless all 
 day; enema at night with some feces; in 
 bed all day. 
 
 September 28. Worst day and night; 
 an uneasy gnawing at the stomach, be- 
 coming intensified until 1 a. m., and most 
 distressing at times; slept after 1 o'clock; 
 mouth still bad. 
 
 September 29. Hunger in evidence, 
 and on advice of Doctor broke the fast 
 with unfermented grape juice. 
 
 From September 29 until October 2 I 
 took the following food: One pint of un- 
 fermented grape juice; the juice of three 
 oranges; one pint of oyster broth; one 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 139 
 
 large apple; one large sweet potato, 
 baked; two slices of whole wheat bread 
 with butter; one small dish of Petti John. 
 On this food I became stronger, and the 
 offensive saliva that had distressed me 
 disappeared. I was sleeping well and 
 feeling better generally, and the use of 
 my muscles had been entirely restored. 
 On October 8 my tongue coated again, 
 and the offensive saliva reappeared, indi- 
 cating that the fast must be continued if 
 permanent results were to be obtained, so, 
 after a light breakfast, I began the sup- 
 plemental fast. 
 
 October 2. Felt strong and well gen- 
 erally, except the bad taste in my mouth; 
 excessive flow of saliva; great hunger at 
 5 a. m. ; slept well. 
 
 October 3. Stronger than at any time 
 since the first week of my long fast; 
 walked down town twice; excessive flow 
 of foul saliva continues, but not so of- 
 fensive as before; no hunger. 
 
 October 4. Quite strong in the fore- 
 noon, but not so well in the afternoon; 
 saliva not so offensive; enema with a 
 quantity of feces at night; slept well. 
 
140 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 October 5. Strong and well in the 
 forenoon, but rather weak and depressed 
 in the afternoon; foul saliva continues; 
 to bed and slept well. 
 
 October 6. About a repetition of yes- 
 terday; went walking twice during day; 
 enema at night with but a color of feces; 
 slept well until 3 a. m. 
 
 October 7. Vomited a quantity of bile 
 twice to-day; natural passage from the 
 bowels to-night, very foul; slept well un- 
 til 4 a. m. 
 
 October 8. Rather weak and depressed 
 in the morning; hunger with nausea evi- 
 dent; slept well. 
 
 October 9. Hunger plainly in evidence, 
 and fast was again broken, this time per- 
 manently. Weight, 174. 
 
 A letter written subsequently by Mr. 
 Davis is here quoted, since it contains the 
 results of the fast in more extended form 
 than is covered in the daily record: 
 
 "My Dear Friend: 
 
 "I take this unusual method of com- 
 munication because of the long list of 
 people to whom I owe letters, and the al- 
 most utter impossibility of writing so long 
 
CURB OF DISEASE 141 
 
 a letter as this to each. You must regard 
 it as no less personal because of its 
 peculiarity, however. I have passed 
 through a remarkable experience, a mere 
 outline of which follows. 
 
 "•I reverently give thanks for my re- 
 covery to God, the source of all good. 
 I am sixty-one years of age. My entire 
 right side was completely paralyzed July 
 1, 1901. I immediately commenced recov- 
 ery, but improvement was substantially 
 at a standstill when cold weather came in 
 the fall. A temporary advancement came 
 and ceased with the unusual warm 
 weather of the early spring of 1902, fol- 
 lowed by a relapse to about the previous 
 condition, which continued without ma- 
 terial change to August 15th of last year. 
 I was totally incapacitated for active 
 manual labor of any kind, living in dread 
 of a second stroke, with a strange un- 
 natural depression upon slight overexer- 
 tion, accompanied by great drowsiness. 
 On these occasions I would sleep thirty to 
 thirty-six hours, almost without intermis- 
 sion. My mentality was impaired, my 
 eyesight not fully recovered, and my speech 
 
142 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 impeded. My right hand and arm were 
 clumsy and weak. At this stage all ordi- 
 nary human aid was powerless. 
 
 "I commenced a preliminary or partial 
 fast on August 15th last, eating two light 
 meals daily until the 20th, when I ate one 
 light meal only. On August 21st I com- 
 menced a full fast, and from that day un- 
 til September 29th, forty full days and 
 seven hours, I took no nutriment what- 
 ever, liquid or solid, and no drugs. Dur- 
 ing the next three days I had very little 
 nourishment, and then began a supple- 
 mental fast of one week, making in all 
 fifty days. 
 
 "Contrary to my expectations, I had 
 no hunger from the third day to the for- 
 tieth. (See Matt. iv. 2.) To affirm that 
 there was no inconvenience, however, 
 would be untrue, for by every avenue of 
 elimination most offensive impurities were 
 thrown off, and at times these were most 
 unbearable had the object been lost 
 sight of. 
 
 "I wish to say just here that I be- 
 lieve, without experienced, intelligent, and 
 faithful pilotage, I should not have sue- 
 
CUKE OF DISEASE 143 
 
 ceeded, and I cannot understand how any- 
 one else could. Such care and needed en- 
 couragement I had from Dr. Linda Bur- 
 field (now Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard) 
 of this city. With a few exceptions, I 
 visited her office daily during my fast, and 
 on these exceptions was visited by her. 
 Like myself, nearly all who have taken 
 this cure are grateful also, under God, 
 to Dr. Dewey, of Meadville, Pa., the hon- 
 ored promoter of this wonderful system. 
 Neither of these physicians administers 
 drugs. My weight before the fast was 
 228 pounds, and my stomach girth, 45 
 inches. At the close of my fast (Octo- 
 ber 9, 1902) my weight was 174 pounds, 
 and my stomach girth 38y 2 inches. No- 
 vember 26th my weight was 184 pounds, 
 and my girth 39 inches. At this writing 
 (January 15th, 1903) I weigh about the 
 same as at latter date. 
 
 "I am cured of paralysis; my mentality 
 is clear and normal; my entire digestive 
 system is apparently perfect; my vision 
 is better than for years; my hand and 
 arm are strong; I have no dread of a 
 second stroke; I have no sleepy spells; 
 
144 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 I feel lighter all over ; and, when weary, I 
 am quite refreshed and ready for fur- 
 ther exertion after a short rest; I feel 
 younger, and my neighbors say I look it; 
 I have been working in St. Paul, ten 
 miles distant, for over a month, traveling 
 to and from that city daily ; and I am, 
 in every way, more robust than I have 
 been since boyhood. 
 
 "My dear friends, who regard human 
 physical ailments as proper subjects of 
 miraculous interposition only, are referred 
 to Matt. ix:12; also Matt. xvii:21. 
 
 "GEOBGE E. DAVIS. 
 
 "Witness: Hereward Carrington. 
 "Minneapolis, Minn., January 15, 1903.' ' 
 
 Note. — The case of Mr. Davis is given in full, not 
 only because of the interesting" and typical features 
 presented, but also because, in a volume dealing" with 
 the subject of the fast and recently issued in New 
 Tork City, this case and twenty others treated by the 
 author have been used and accredited to Hereward 
 Carrington, compiler of the work mentioned, and 
 witness to the signature of George E. Davis, as 
 shown in the text. The author quotes from a letter 
 written February 29, 1908, to the publishers of the 
 book: 
 
 "Several days ago I received from Mr. Hereward 
 Carrington of New York City complete proofs of a 
 volume purporting to come from his pen, and to be 
 published by your company. In addressing you thus, 
 I am actuated by a feeling of justice towards myself 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 145 
 
 F. K., Montana. Female; age, 28. 
 
 Disease symptom, locomotor ataxia, with 
 general derangement of the motor nerves. 
 
 This case arrived for treatment on the 
 21st of September, 1905, and remained 
 under care and observation until Decem- 
 ber 13th, 1905. After a short period of 
 dieting, the patient was placed upon the 
 absolute fast, which continued for twenty- 
 two days and ended with the return of 
 
 and towards the cause to which I have devoted the 
 past eleven years of my life. 
 
 "Mr. Carrington was employed by me as my clerk 
 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from November, 1902, to 
 March, 1903. In his published work, the cases cited 
 are, with few exceptions, those of patients treated by 
 me prior to or at the time that he was in my employ. 
 He never so much as assisted in any way in the 
 treatment of any case, and his sole knowledge of the 
 work was obtained by observation and by compilation 
 of the notes given him by the writer for her own 
 records. On his departure, he abstracted copies from 
 these latter, and his detailed memoranda of the cases 
 mentioned are from these notes. 
 
 "He has seen fit to ignore the writer's individual 
 labors in handling the cases referred to, and yet 
 mentions them by name or by easily recognized 
 initials. The addresses are now cited in full, so that 
 the statements may be verified should you so elect." 
 
 The addresses then follow. 
 
 In quoting the letter that Mr. Davis wrote to his 
 friends after recovery, Mr. Carrington was most 
 careful to omit the paragraph in which Mr. Davis ex- 
 presses his gratitude to both Dr. Dewey and the 
 author. 
 
146 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 hunger and a complete restoration to 
 health. 
 
 The medical history of the case showed 
 obstinate constipation for twenty years, 
 and very nervous tendencies that had been 
 continually aggravated for four years 
 previous to the fast. Medical attendance 
 had been constant since the year 1900. 
 When first seen the muscles controlling 
 legs, hands, arms, and face were in con- 
 tinuous motion, and no effort of the will 
 could control their actions. During the 
 first week of the fast improvement was 
 such that the young woman was able to 
 walk about the grounds surrounding the 
 house, and by the fourteenth day all mus- 
 cular evidence of nervousness had disap- 
 peared. The fast was continued twenty - 
 two days. 
 
 No unusual symptoms developed in this 
 case ; the enemas brought away solid mat- 
 ter until the seventeenth day, and there- 
 after but a small quantity of bilious fluid. 
 Osteopathic manipulation was daily ap- 
 plied, and the loss in weight was not re- 
 markable. There were almost no unpleas- 
 ant symptoms, and for this a regular out- 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 147 
 
 door life and an equable disposition and 
 temperament are largely responsible. 
 After a time devoted to judicious exer- 
 cise, the patient was dismissed, completely 
 restored in general health, and with no 
 signs whatever of her nervous disorder 
 of former days. This case also showed 
 decided impairment of sight, myopic in 
 form; the patient was able to dispense 
 with spectacles six weeks after the com- 
 pletion of the fast. 
 
 H. P., Washington. Female; age 29. 
 
 Disease symptom, epilepsy. 
 
 This case was under treatment from 
 July 19, 1907, until October 3, 1907. Be- 
 fore undertaking the fast the patient had 
 been tentatively practicing a diet and had 
 noticed decided improvement in general 
 health, but no cessation in the attacks 
 characteristic of the disease symptom 
 named. Medical attendance had been con- 
 tinuous in this case for ten years, and 
 no improvement had occurred, but rather 
 the reverse, for the epileptic seizures had 
 increased in number and in severity as 
 time went by. When the fast began the 
 attacks were recurring at intervals of two 
 
148 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 weeks, and the latest seizure had hap- 
 pened three days before. An absolute fast 
 of fifty-six days comprised the principal 
 treatment, and from the moment it began 
 to the present writing (July, 1908) not a 
 single attack has occurred, and the gen- 
 eral health of the patient is better than it 
 ever has been in her twenty -nine years. 
 
 The fast in this case is remarkable for 
 several things, one of which is the fact 
 that on every one of the fifty-six days the 
 patient walked to the office of the author, 
 a distance of more than a mile, and re- 
 turned to her home after treatment; an- 
 other, that on the fortieth day of absti- 
 nence a large mass of dead intestinal 
 worms passed from the bowels after the 
 enema. Improvement was constant from 
 the first, but after the evacuation of these 
 parasites it was most rapid, and hunger 
 was in evidence on the fifty-fifth day. 
 
 Before the fast the patient weighed 
 134 pounds, and at its end she had lost 
 thirty pounds, an average decrease. Three 
 weeks after eating was resumed normal 
 had been gained; and two months later 
 Miss P. married, an event that had been 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 149 
 
 postponed for five years in the hope that 
 relief from physical conditions could be 
 found. 
 
 F. 0., Washington. Female; age, 46. 
 
 The medical history of this case shows 
 constant treatment since the year 1871 
 for the disease symptom known as diffuse 
 psoriasis. At the time that the patient 
 turned to natural methods, January 15, 
 1908, the patches characteristic of the 
 symptom covered at least one-third of the 
 surface of her skin, and were not con- 
 fined to any locality, but appeared indis- 
 criminately on trunk, arms, and legs. 
 Hands, face, and feet were not affected. 
 At this date the conditions were much ag- 
 gravated, and the sores were exuding 
 serum and were itching intolerably. 
 
 In order to enjoy life in previous years 
 Mrs. 0. had discovered through medical 
 attempts to relieve that the sores could be 
 dried and the itching be alleviated by mer- 
 curial sweat baths. For a week or there- 
 abouts after treatment of this kind the 
 symptoms remained dormant, but only to 
 reappear more angry and more obstinate. 
 
 The general health of the patient seemed 
 
150 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 excellent, and to this a strong constitu- 
 tion and a robust physique contributed. 
 Perhaps, as often occurs, the outlet that 
 Nature established in this instance was 
 most salutary in so far as the appearance 
 of other disease symptoms was concerned. 
 The author knows this to be the fact in 
 syphilitic infection, for all outward evi- 
 dences of disease are invariably subordi- 
 nated to the direct blood taint. 
 
 When first under observation Mrs. 0. 
 weighed 172 pounds, and her habits were 
 those of a woman in comfortable circum- 
 stances, with the idea ingrained that three 
 and even four generous meals a day were 
 necessary for the maintenance of health 
 and strength. She was, however, discour- 
 aged and disheartened on account of her 
 skin trouble; and, as a last resort, con- 
 sidered what to her meant a living death, 
 the fast. 
 
 After three weeks of dieting, the period 
 of abstinence began on February 15, and 
 continued until April 20, inclusive, a total 
 of seventy-five days. At no time during 
 this interval was any food ingested, and 
 at no time was the patient unable to walk 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 151 
 
 to the office of the author for daily osteo- 
 pathic treatment. This was undoubtedly 
 due to her magnificent physical organiza- 
 tion, and to a will power that was equal 
 to the supreme test. The case was a most 
 easy one to treat, for, with the gradual 
 disappearance of disease, faith grew, and 
 opposition died. 
 
 The fast was typical, and not extraordi- 
 nary save for its length. The loss in 
 weight was normal and registered 32 
 pounds on the seventy-fifth day, when 
 Mrs. 0. balanced the scale at 142 pounds. 
 Faster 's chilliness was in evidence until 
 the twentieth day; and, while pulse and 
 temperature were below register in the 
 earlier stages, they reached normal by 
 the sixth week. The enemas brought away 
 solid feces until the twenty-fifth day, and 
 thereafter great quantities of yellowish- 
 white mucus until the last week of absti- 
 nence. 
 
 It was not until about the fourth week 
 that visible improvement in the exuding 
 sores became evident in any degree. The 
 itching subsided with the cessation of exu- 
 dation, and here amelioration was noted 
 
152 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 at the end of the third week of the fast. 
 From the latter part of March until hun- 
 ger appeared the inflamed areas rapidly 
 dried, and healthy skin formed in patches 
 that grew and gradually covered the de- 
 nuded spots. 
 
 After eating was resumed Mrs. O.'s 
 general health became superb, and the 
 sole remaining signs of former disease 
 were the scarred edges surrounding the 
 later areas. These gradually disappeared, 
 and today no trace save slight discolora- 
 tion, the result of previous medical treat- 
 ment, is left to evidence the frightful dis- 
 figurement of earlier years. 
 
 At no time during the long period of 
 abstinence was alarm felt as to the out- 
 come either by the patient or by the 
 author. In the absence of organic imper- 
 fections, there is positively no danger in 
 fasting until Nature indicates the end 
 with hunger. It is because of ignorance 
 of the physiology and of the philosophy 
 of the method that fear enters and dis- 
 aster results in cases not properly guided. 
 
 E. F., Mo. Female; age, 34. Bedrid- 
 den one year. Weight, 85. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 153 
 
 This case suffered from a mechanical 
 defect in the dorsal vertebras, two of 
 them having been displaced in such 
 manner as to pinch the spinal cord, and 
 to cause paralysis of the lower trunk and 
 legs. The fast was undertaken for the 
 relief of general disease resulting from 
 years of wrong living and overeating. 
 In fact, the slipped vertebras were directly 
 due to malnutrition of the dorsal muscles. 
 The patient had never in her life known 
 perfect health, and intermittently in earlier 
 days there had developed severe fevers 
 which finally created contractions in the 
 descending colon, a condition that caused 
 constipation and consequent septicemia. 
 At the time noted a congestive chill of 
 more than ordinary severity indicated that 
 drastic measures were necessary; and, 
 while preparation was not complete, the 
 fast was begun and continued for fifty- 
 eight days. 
 
 The medical history of this case showed 
 inherited scrofula, but it had never been 
 diagnosed as such. There had been mani- 
 fested at intervals offensive running sores, 
 and the thumb and the index finger of the 
 
154 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 left hand had been amputated because of 
 a non-healing abscess. This and similar 
 ulcers were without exception diagnosed 
 by the attending physicians as tubercular 
 in character, and had been treated accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 On the second day of the fast an abscess 
 broke through the surface of the skin at 
 the base of the spine immediately over 
 the sacrum. The discharge was most pro- 
 fuse and offensive, and the area affected 
 spread until it was at least three inches 
 in diameter, and its depth was such that 
 the periosteum of the sacrum became ex- 
 posed in ten days after the sore appeared. 
 
 For the first week hot applications were 
 continuously laid, and the gangrenous 
 material was carefully cauterized by fo- 
 cusing the rays of the sun upon the ulcer 
 with an ordinary reading glass. By the 
 tenth day the discharge had ceased to be 
 offensive, and several days later healthy 
 granulation began. At the end of fifty- 
 eight days of abstinence a circular spot 
 of slightly reddish normal skin with a 
 subjacent cushion of healthy flesh pro- 
 claimed the fact that Nature's work of 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 155 
 
 repair had progressed in spite of the 
 absence of food. This is the great point 
 to be observed in the treatment of this 
 case, whose blood had been poisoned and 
 repoisoned for years by constant addi- 
 tions to accumulated food rubbish. Once 
 elimination could proceed undisturbed, 
 Nature was able not only to cast out im- 
 purity, but also to repair diseased tissue 
 from the small store of healthy material 
 husbanded in this slight body. 
 
 The results of the copious daily enemas 
 were remarkable for their exceeding foul- 
 ness, and for the great quantity of black 
 bilious fluid that was brought away until 
 the thirtieth day of the fast. The loss in 
 weight was not extraordinary, the patient 
 weighing 65 pounds after fifty-eight days 
 without food. While the mechanical diffi- 
 culty mentioned was not wholly relieved 
 at the completion of the fast, the general 
 health of the patient was such as to put 
 her a long distance toward recovery. In 
 concluding the history of this case, the 
 author would again call attention to the 
 healing of a scrofular abscess to the point 
 of complete and healthy closure while the 
 fast was in progress. 
 
156 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 A. L., Washington. Female; age, 28. 
 
 Poor nutrition and what is called a 
 bilious temperament, aggravated by a diet 
 composed largely of meat, brought on a 
 condition that manifested itself physically 
 in periodical headaches, and mentally in 
 melancholia with violent tendencies, which, 
 but for the care and devotion of a sister, 
 would have placed the patient in an asylum 
 long before coming under observation. 
 The physician last consulted had recom- 
 mended that she be confined, when the 
 sister, almost in despair, turned to the 
 fast. 
 
 Examination showed a pulse continually 
 at 128, and temperature that varied from 
 above to below normal with no apparent 
 cause. Diet was at once changed to 
 liquids, and daily enemas were rigorously 
 plied, while hot towel packs were used on 
 the spine to control circulation and to 
 steady the pulse. After a short time these 
 were discontinued, for these functions 
 showed constant improvement from the 
 first. The enemas brought away black, 
 foul-smelling discharges, which did not 
 cease until the latter part of the fast. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 157 
 
 The patient showed great vitality 
 throughout the entire fast, and daily 
 walked a distance of two miles, took osteo- 
 pathic treatment, and returned to her 
 home without undue fatigue. She fasted 
 forty-two days, and toward the end she 
 was able and desirous to increase the 
 amount of exercise. Her mental condi- 
 tion showed a tendency to mend from the 
 beginning of the fast, and on its thirtieth 
 day the young woman helped her sister 
 to do the housework, performing her part 
 of the labor well and cheerfully. Hunger 
 returned on the forty-first day, and the 
 fast was broken on the morning of the 
 forty-third day. Two weeks later the 
 sisters sailed from Montreal for their 
 home in Sweden, and a letter written by 
 the patient since her arrival abroad shows 
 a mind in every way sane and rational. 
 The sister also writes that the young 
 woman is both physically and mentally 
 whole, and that she does not know of 
 any one so happy as both she and her sis- 
 ter are over the outcome of the case. 
 
 G. W. T., Philadelphia, Pa. Male; 
 age, 47. 
 
158 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 Paralyzed on right side and had shown 
 signs of insanity. Medical history ex- 
 hibited habitual constipation, periodical 
 headaches, and prolonged bilious attacks. 
 Began fast, June 24, 1902, and continued 
 for twenty days, when it was thought well 
 to break at weight 100. Results : No head- 
 aches; bowels regular; paralysis, greatly 
 improved; a steady gain in flesh and 
 strength on diet after the fast. Second 
 fast begun in September, 1902, at weight 
 105, and continued for full forty-one days. 
 Patient came to office daily, and showed 
 constant improvement from the first. 
 Weight on breaking second fast, 72 
 pounds. No special symptoms to be 
 noted. Paralysis entirely eradicated and 
 general health excellent two months after 
 completion of second fast, which ended 
 with return of hunger. At this time, also, 
 the patient had regained his normal 
 weight of 145 pounds, at which he stood 
 at the beginning of the preliminary fast. 
 
 Note. — This case is also one of those used in the 
 volume mentioned in connection with the fast of 
 George E. Davis. The account of the case is defective 
 in that Hereward Carrington, the compiler of the 
 volume, was not able to obtain the history of the 
 
CURE OP DISEASE 159 
 
 L. H., Illinois. Female; age, 32. Dis- 
 ease symptom, tuberculosis. 
 
 This patient fasted for twenty-four 
 days, but was on diet and under treatment 
 for six months, inclusive of the fast. When 
 first under observation, examination of 
 sputum showed quantities of bacilli; both 
 lungs were affected; chills with fever oc- 
 curred daily in afternoon; all typical 
 symptoms of a fully developed case of the 
 disease symptom named. Weight at be- 
 ginning of fast, 112 pounds. After low 
 diet for several weeks, the fast was be- 
 gun and continued for twenty-four days 
 with no unfavorable signs whatever. 
 From the first excessive discharge of 
 sputum occurred, which gradually lessened 
 until evidences of the return of hunger 
 appeared, and which showed at the sev- 
 
 preliminary fast, since he was not at the time in the 
 employ of the author of this text. Mr. T. resorted 
 to the fasting method of cure through the recom- 
 mendation of the then editor of The Liberator, of 
 Minneapolis, Minn., Mrs. Lora C. Little, by whom the 
 facts here stated and those in the Davis case may 
 easily be verified. 
 
 The cuts used by Mr. Carrington to illustrate his 
 point, "On the verge of skeletonism," are portraits of 
 G. W. T., taken at the request of the author at her 
 expense, and later obtained from the photographer by 
 Mr. Carrington. 
 
160 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 eral periodical examinations during the 
 fast progressive decrease in the number 
 of bacilli. The enemas were always loaded 
 with bile and with old feces, and these 
 products disappeared only during the last 
 week of the fast. Chills and fever van- 
 ished by the fourteenth day, and when the 
 sputum was examined on the twenty-sec- 
 ond day of abstinence it showed no trace 
 of bacilli. The general health of the pa- 
 tient was marked by constant improve- 
 ment after the fast was broken. 
 
 J. H., Kentucky. Male ; age, 34 ; weight, 
 228. Disease symptom (medical diag- 
 nosis), heart disease. 
 
 As stated, this case was diagnosed med- 
 ically as valvular heart disease, and no 
 hope was offered for recovery. There was 
 great pain in the regions of the heart, 
 stomach, and liver, and at times in the 
 abdomen. The heart missed one beat in 
 every three; and, in view of the serious- 
 ness of the patient's condition, the fast 
 was begun without preparation, and imme- 
 diately upon coming under observation. 
 Enormous quantities of black bilious fluid 
 came away with every enema, of which 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 161 
 
 four were administered daily throughout 
 the fast. Excruciating pain and nervous 
 excitement were in evidence until the twen- 
 tieth day, when at least a teacupful of gall 
 stones was evacuated with the contents 
 of the enema. These continued to be 
 passed until the thirtieth day of the fast, 
 which was broken on the morning of its 
 thirty-fifth day. Weight at completion, 
 174 pounds. There was great chilliness in 
 the early part of this fast, but tempera- 
 ture and pulse reached normal by the 
 twentieth day. Before this the latter had 
 been at times above, at times below regis- 
 ter, and in either case the sensation of 
 chill was present. From the breaking of 
 the fast all functions became and con- 
 tinued normal; weight was gained grad- 
 ually, and at this writing (June, 1908) 
 stands at 185 pounds, or normal for pa- 
 tient's height and build; there have been 
 no unfavorable symptoms since the com- 
 pletion of the fast, a period of eighteen 
 months, and the general health of Mr. H. 
 is better than ever before in his life. 
 
 A. L., Iowa. Male; age 45. Digestive 
 derangements, diagnosed medically as 
 chronic dyspepsia. 
 
162 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 This patient fasted forty-nine days, and 
 from the first day until the forty-fifth day 
 of this period was not able to leave his 
 bed. At this date the tongue cleaned as if 
 by magic; hunger returned and with it 
 strength; and, on the forty-ninth day, 
 when the fast was broken, the patient was 
 able to walk a distance of seventeen city 
 blocks with but little fatigue. No unusual 
 symptoms excepting the weakness men- 
 tioned developed during abstinence; and, 
 from the breaking of the fast, improve- 
 ment was constant and permanent. 
 
 F. N., Washington. Female; age 41. 
 Disease symptoms, obesity and functional 
 heart disease. Weight, 200 pounds. 
 
 The medical history of this case shows 
 an operation for salpingitis. The patient 
 was most robust, and was able to attend 
 to her home duties and to visit the au- 
 thor's office daily throughout her long 
 fast of sixty-three days. There were but 
 little faster 's chilliness and no unusual 
 symptoms. In this case there was gain 
 in weight about the period included with- 
 in the thirtieth and thirty-fifth days of 
 from one to one and one-quarter pounds 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 163 
 
 daily, after which the gradual decrease 
 continued until the end of the fast. Weight 
 at the end of fast was 140 pounds, and 
 thereafter the gain was gradual until 154 
 pounds was reached, the normal weight for 
 height and build. 
 
 4 E. H., Washington. Male; age, 40. 
 Medical diagnosis, cancer of the stomach. 
 
 The patient was suffering from a badly 
 congested condition of stomach and upper 
 intestines, and underwent a fast of fifty 
 days with no extraordinary symptoms ; he 
 came to office every day for osteopathic 
 manipulation ; and, from 145 pounds in 
 weight at beginning of fast, he was re- 
 duced to 105 pounds at completion. The 
 subsequent gain in weight and strength 
 was normal, and at two months from the 
 breaking^ of the fast he weighed 170 
 pounds. 
 
 Y. B., female; age, 19. C. M. ; female; 
 age, 27. A. E. ; male; age, 40. 
 
 These cases are all typical of the disease 
 symptom, appendicitis, and were fasted 
 thirty-two, fourteen, and thirty-four days 
 respectively. Appendicitis yields most 
 easily to the fast, and needs no assistance 
 
164 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 other than that which complete rest of the 
 digestive system and constant application 
 of the enema afford. Pain ceased in all of 
 the cases cited, and fever was reduced by 
 the end of the third day. The fast in each 
 instance was continued for perfect results 
 and for the general physical welfare of the 
 patients. 
 
 Gr. W. S., Minnesota. Male; age, 45. 
 Paralysis. 
 
 This case fasted a total of 117 days in 
 a period of 141 days, the intervals being 
 occupied in light dieting. While the re- 
 sults, so far as the paralyzed condition of 
 the patient was concerned, were most fa- 
 vorable, the care of the man finally de- 
 volved upon the county in which he re- 
 sided, and it was deemed best not to 
 pursue the treatment. The case is cited in 
 order to place on record the remarkable 
 ratio of days fasting to days feeding de- 
 veloped by a bed-ridden man, whose 
 weight was but 85 pounds at the begin- 
 ning of treatment, and was reduced to 75 
 at its end. In this case, also, an obstinate 
 bedsore of two years' standing yielded to 
 the fast, grew a covering of healthy skin, 
 and never reappeared. 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 165 
 
 A. J., Iowa. Female; age, 38. Disease 
 symptom, Bright ? s disease with obesity. 
 Weight, 285 pounds. 
 
 Fasted sixty days with most rapid re- 
 duction in weight, which stood at 137 
 pounds at completion. No unusual symp- 
 toms. In two months had regained weight 
 to 150, and has balanced the scales at that 
 figure since. One year after the end of 
 the fast the patient gave birth to her first 
 child, an event that had been devoutly 
 hoped for throughout her married life of 
 twenty years. In fact, Mrs. J. had never 
 before been pregnant. 
 
 The cases cited in this chapter are de- 
 scribed with as little technical language 
 as possible, and are given to exhibit the 
 variety of symptoms treated, all of which 
 revert to the fundamental principle dwelt 
 upon and emphasized in the text, that 
 there is but one disease, impure blood; 
 that its sole cause is impaired digestion; 
 and that any and all of its symptoms, be- 
 cause they are results of the same cause, 
 will yield to the remedy indicated and pre- 
 scribed by Nature itself. 
 
166 
 
 FASTING FOE CURE 
 
 Faster ? s chilliness, referred to in a num- 
 ber of instances, does not necessarily con- 
 vey the idea that temperature in these 
 cases was below normal. It is simply a 
 condition of sensation, and is due to the 
 absence of food stimulation as described 
 previously. In many of these and in other 
 instances, however, temperature was below 
 register; but, just as in fever, the fast 
 invariably restores the condition to nor- 
 mal. 
 
 The following is a table exhibiting losses 
 in weight in fasts of varying lengths. The 
 average, it will be seen, approximates 
 one pound daily. 
 
 
 Wt. at 
 
 Wt. at 
 
 Days 
 
 Loss 
 
 
 Beginni'g 
 
 End. , 
 
 Fast'd 
 
 Wt. 
 
 1. Geo. E. Davis. . . 
 
 228 
 
 174 
 
 50 
 
 54 
 
 2. Mrs. I. Matthews 
 
 150 
 
 123 
 
 22 
 
 27 
 
 3. Rev. N. H. Lohre 
 
 178 
 
 165 
 
 10 
 
 13 
 
 4. Prf. F.Woodward 
 
 182 
 
 158 
 
 20 
 
 24 
 
 5. Mr. J. Burrows. ., 
 
 165 
 
 154 
 
 23 
 
 11 
 
 6. Mrs. J. Burrows. 
 
 135 
 
 127 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 7. Mr, G. W. Tuthill 
 
 108% 
 
 72% 
 
 41 
 
 36 
 
 8. Mrs. P.J. Conklin 
 
 136 
 
 103 
 
 28 
 
 33 
 
 9. Mrs. T.Armstrong 
 
 117 
 
 92 
 
 34 
 
 25 
 
 10. Robert Burfield.. 
 
 135 
 
 118 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 Totals 
 
 1534% 
 
 1286% 
 
 253 
 
 248* 
 
 * i. e., 248 pounds of effete, diseased material elim- 
 inated ! 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Criticism. 
 
 The subject matter presented in this 
 volume is purely the result of experience 
 and observation extending over twelve 
 years of practice and including to the date 
 of writing over 1,100 cases of continuous 
 fasts. And whenever in the text the word 
 "fast" is used, total abstinence from food 
 of all kinds is meant. Experience such as 
 this is vastly different from the attempts, 
 more or less earnest it is true, of fanatic- 
 ally inclined devotees of "nature cures" 
 or of "physical culture institutes," and a 
 few remarks concerning ignorant but 
 sophistical criticism of the method seem 
 fitting at this point. 
 
 Most of the criticism referred to finds 
 expression in alarm at the thought that 
 almost every community has its fasting en- 
 thusiasts today, but the knowledge upon 
 which true criticism is based is almost 
 altogether absent in the arguments ad- 
 
 167 
 
168 PASTING FOE THE 
 
 vanced in opposition. An intelligent ap- 
 preciation of the physiology of fasting is 
 rarely discovered, and confusion is the 
 result of putting the simple question, 
 1 ' What do you know about it?" 
 
 The great point at issue in the better 
 class of comment on the fast is the risk 
 attendant upon its application. As a mat- 
 ter of fact, there is no risk whatever in a 
 properly conducted fast, and the text fully 
 demonstrates this fact. Fasting will not 
 and cannot save a system organically im- 
 perfect; but in functional disease, if there 
 be risk at any time or in any degree, it 
 lies at the moment that the fast is broken, 
 and here is where guidance is necessary. 
 The greatest obstacle in the treatment is 
 found in causing peristaltic action in the 
 small intestine sufficient to evacuate its 
 contents into the colon, and guidance and 
 assistance is needed for this as well. In 
 the progress of the fast symptoms de- 
 velop and disappear from day to day, and 
 no two individuals express like signs at 
 regular intervals. Each case has its own 
 peculiarities, both during the period of 
 abstinence and after its completion. 
 
CUEE OF DISEASE 169 
 
 Statements that would be absurd did 
 they not emanate from members of an 
 educated and cultured profession are met 
 with daily when the fast is discussed. 
 One such of recent date asserts: "It 
 should be remembered that when food is 
 withdrawn the body does not cease to eat, 
 but proceeds to consume its own tissue/' 
 The author of this remark is by inference 
 unaware that the sole process carried on 
 in the body after a certain period of fast- 
 ing is that of elimination. This is true of 
 all tissues and organs with the exceptions 
 of the brain and nerve centers and the 
 nerve substance. In all the autopsies con- 
 ducted by the writer, when death had oc- 
 curred in the fast, the brain completely 
 filled the brain cavity; its structure 
 showed no loss or deterioration; and 
 microscopic section exhibited no defects 
 that might be attributed to abstinence 
 from food. In five distinct cases of cancer 
 of the stomach treated medically, dissec- 
 tion of the brain showed no waste in brain 
 tissue, although the greatest emaciation 
 was evident in body tissue and in the 
 organs. In these instances death had oc- 
 
170 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 curred after periods in which no food had 
 been ingested for from four to ten weeks. 
 
 The enema is assailed by physician and 
 layman alike, and on various grounds. The 
 great fact to be kept in mind is the realiza- 
 tion of the predominance of elimination in 
 the fast. Peristaltic action is sluggish, 
 and time must be devoted to bathing and 
 to the enema in order to rid the system 
 of matter cast off, and to prevent reab- 
 sorption. The advanced faster never al- 
 lows refuse to collect to such degree as to 
 act as soil for the propagation of germs. 
 The colon is completely cleansed daily and 
 more often several times daily. 
 
 The business of Nature, although accom- 
 plished through complicated organisms, is 
 extremely simple in the fundamentals. But 
 we often hear of diagnoses that lead the 
 patient to believe that his days are num- 
 bered, and that his disease symptoms are 
 those that accompany speedy death. More 
 often than not, some one of the eliminating 
 organs in these cases is performing the 
 task that its brothers should do, but which 
 they refuse because they are clogged and 
 cannot. Attention to the liver saves the 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 171 
 
 kidneys, and an unclogged alimentary 
 canal relieves the liver at once of most 
 of its burdens. One of the simplest visi- 
 ble instances of elimination is found in 
 the coat deposited upon the tongue. In 
 health as defined medically a clear tongue 
 is seldom in evidence with a full stomach. 
 Ordinarily here stimulation dominates 
 elimination. A foul tongue is the result 
 of Nature's attempt to eliminate impuri- 
 ties from the system, nothing more nor 
 less. Some writers assert that the tongue 
 becomes clean and remains so because in 
 health the saliva is a natural germicide 
 destroying the germ and the coating with 
 it. But germicide though the saliva may 
 be, it cannot at any time destroy the soil 
 in which bacilli flourish. In disease, Na- 
 ture attempts to eliminate, then to elimi- 
 nate some more, and then to eliminate 
 again until the clogged avenues of vitality 
 and energy are cleared, and health is re- 
 stored. The tongue, in common with the 
 rest of the organs and glands, receives its 
 deposit of refuse, and not until elimination 
 is complete and all the body waste evacu- 
 ated does it reach the perfectly clean and 
 
172 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 pink state that is its normal condition. 
 This is one of the unfailing signs of a 
 complete and successful fast; and hun- 
 ger, natural hunger, invariably accom- 
 panies this symptom. 
 
 In fasting for tuberculosis, during the 
 first days, typical sputum is discharged, 
 and saliva in abundance is also present. 
 In tests of both saliva and sputum carried 
 on throughout the process of treatment, 
 and made every third day, the bacilli show 
 constant decrease, until when the tongue 
 clears there are no sputum and no bacilli, 
 and saliva is normal. Can one believe 
 that the saliva had aught to do with the 
 disappearance of the germs? Is it not a 
 more rational solution to think that with 
 the soil for propagation gone, the organ- 
 ism finds no further use for the body, and 
 can no longer exist? 
 
 Opponents of fasting for the cure of 
 disease have not hesitated to make capital 
 of the fact that its most prominent advo- 
 cate, Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey, died as 
 the result of a paralytic stroke, and not 
 from old age. It is just as well to state 
 the facts in the case, and these are cited 
 
CURE OP DISEASE 173 
 
 from letters personal and otherwise now 
 in possession of the author. 
 
 The Morning Star, Meadville, Pa., De- 
 cember 22, 1904, says: "The not unex- 
 pected death of Dr. Edward Hooker 
 Dewey occurred at 10 o'clock Wednesday 
 morning at his residence on Park Avenue. 
 He had been ill since March 28 of the 
 present year, sustaining a paralytic stroke 
 on that date while standing in front of his 
 residence. 
 
 " Deceased was born at Mead Corners 
 (now Wayland) May 21, 1839. " 
 
 The above, which is correct, shows Dr. 
 Dewey to have been 65 years old at the 
 time of his death, and in view of long and 
 almost vicious opposition to the methods 
 he espoused, and of strenuous endeavor in 
 the cause of humanity, his was a ripe 
 old age. 
 
 Dr. Dewey suffered his first stroke of 
 paralysis on March 28, 1904, and a second 
 one on December 10, 1904, the latter re- 
 sulting in his death on December 21, 1904. 
 After the second stroke internal convul- 
 sions occurred. 
 
 His illness and approaching death are 
 
174 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 best told as his son, Mr. A. J. Dewey, has 
 set them down in a personal letter of date 
 December 16, 1904: 
 
 "Father had a sinking spell on Tuesday 
 night and I was called up. The doctor in 
 attendance said he thought he couldn't live 
 through last night, but he did. It is such a 
 wonderful fight. He seemed easy this 
 morning, and I went to the office only to 
 be summoned by 'phone. They thought he 
 wouldn't get through another hour, but 
 again he rallied. I came to the office this 
 afternoon, and am in hourly dread of an- 
 other message. I don't understand those 
 internal convulsions. It was nearly five 
 hours before they ceased entirely on Sun- 
 day last. As you know, father fasted the 
 first sixteen days last spring, ivhen the 
 attach came on, but since then he has had 
 tivo meals a day. I will mail this at once 
 and a postal card will follow to tell you 
 the time of his end. It seems to me it is 
 only a question of hours. I never knew a 
 character like his. His was a vast under- 
 standing, so kind, so considerate, so pa- 
 tient. It took a great mind to get the 
 philosophy of the ' No-Breakfast Plan,' but 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 175 
 
 a greater to see the 'why' of the fasting 
 cure. He did both. He was never aught 
 but a kindly, unassuming gentleman." 
 
 It will be seen from this account that 
 Dr. Dewey, from about two weeks after his 
 first seizure, was not under treatment by 
 the method he himself advocated; that he 
 had each day two meals ; and that when he 
 died the inference is obvious he died with 
 a full stomach and not fasting. His case 
 was in the hands of a medical practitioner 
 of Meadville, Pa., and was medically 
 treated. 
 
 The physiology of fasting as given by 
 Dr. Dewey in his works on the subject is 
 beyond all doubt correct; but on the 
 dietetics and hygiene of the treatment he 
 was hopelessly astray. He did not accept 
 the enema, nor did he realize that daily 
 cleansing of the surface of the body is of 
 paramount importance. His own diet at 
 times included meat, and the story of his 
 last illness establishes the fact that fasting 
 in its real sense played no part. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 The very simplicity of the fasting treat- 
 ment is the greatest obstacle to its ad- 
 vancement. It is so simple that it is 
 difficult. In developing natural methods 
 for the cure of disease, one fact is evi- 
 dent, — the general public displays little 
 thought on the care of the body, and less 
 on the relief of bodily ills. Some one has 
 said that, speaking from an evolutionary 
 standpoint, but about five per cent, of the 
 cells of the average brain are ever used 
 in thought. Observation shows the truth 
 of the statement; and, in matters con- 
 nected with hygiene, the percentage is 
 reduced to a fraction of one. 
 
 It is true that there are cases in which 
 the fast brings wretched moments to the 
 hapless followers of wrong living in past 
 days. But housecleaning is never a pleas- 
 ant operation. To the thoughtless mind 
 this simple remedy that almost instinc- 
 
 176 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 177 
 
 tively suggests itself carries no appeal. 
 Its tangibility is doubted, and it is void of 
 bolus. 
 
 In assisting Nature no physician is 
 necessary; but until superstitious doc- 
 trines, born in ignorance and fostered in 
 intellectual indifference, disappear a guide 
 is needed to teach the patient to think, to 
 know that his recovery depends upon and 
 is in his own mind. He can do it if he will, 
 and when he wills he gives the Great 
 Mother the chance she seeks. 
 
 Convincing the patient is only half the 
 battle, for relatives and friends assail him 
 with jeers and ridicule. Therefore, since 
 peace of mind and quiet environment con- 
 duce most strongly to successful issue, it 
 is best to move from anxious but mistaken 
 friends, leaving them to await results that 
 prove the wisdom of conviction. 
 
 Truth moves at slow pace but with irre- 
 sistible momentum, and Nature is truth. 
 Her laws are transgressed with seeming 
 impunity for a time, but jeers and railing 
 do not prevent their cumulative effects 
 from announcing themselves in due course 
 of events. When that dav comes those 
 
178 FASTING FOR THE 
 
 who came to scoff remain to pray, and no 
 conversion is comparable to that of a soul 
 bred in superstition but born again to 
 truth. 
 
 The great public heart is dominated at 
 all times by fear of disease and death, 
 which again is a stupendous barrier to 
 surmount on entering natural fields. It 
 may well be asked whether it is possible 
 that, after thousands upon thousands of 
 life years, man is still so ignorant of the 
 body that carries his divine spark as not 
 to know and to distinguish between cause 
 and effect in its treatment and care. When 
 disease symptoms are manifested, not in- 
 stinctively, but through inherited and edu- 
 cated terror at the thought of death, the 
 heart stands still and man is helpless 
 in the grip of unreasoning dread of dis- 
 solution. He looks to his physician for 
 aid, and he receives advice based on trans- 
 mitted ignorance and superstition. He is 
 dosed with a symptom-killing drug, and 
 when Nature in spite of it throws aside 
 the fever or the pain, he imagines himself 
 cured and goes rejoicing on his way. But 
 not for long, for pay-day cannot always 
 
CURE OF DISEASE 179 
 
 be postponed, and the debt is only adding 
 interest to principal. 
 
 Fasting is, in itself, but a means to an 
 end, a cleansing and resting process that 
 prepares the body for right living in 
 future time. The cure is not an accom- 
 plished fact until the individual, co-operat- 
 ing with Nature, completes what the fast 
 began. 
 
 Into the hearts of those who have the 
 courage of their convictions, who have 
 deserted the ranks marshaled under the 
 flag of superstitious servitude and false- 
 hood, of retrogression and lack of reason, 
 fear has no entrance. These believe be- 
 cause they know, and to them the fast 
 takes its place with the doctrine of evolu- 
 tion, and they may say as did Faust : 
 
 Let him look round him, standing without fear; 
 This world speaks plain for one with ears to hear; 
 He need not stray within the vast to be, * 
 But clasp what he can feel and see. 
 
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