, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^R LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 1?&t/ i^Hp. @^tW ^ Shelf /jL./ O UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. \n 25 1834 t THE NATURAL CURE OF CONSUMPTION, CONSTIPATION, BRIGHT'S DISEASE, NEURALGIA, RHEUMATISM, " COLDS" (FEVERS), Etc. HOW SICKNESS ORIGINATES, AND HOW TO PREVENT IT. A HEALTH MANUAL FOR THE PEOPLE. ... BY C. E. PAGE, M.D., AUTHOR OF U HOW TO FEED THE BABY," ETC. / NEW YORK : "^ *" FOWLER & WELLS, PUBLISHERS 753 Broadway. 1SS4. "^c. Y^ COPYRIGHT, 1883, BY FOWLER & WELLS. EDWARD O. JENKINS, Printer and Stereotyper^ 20 North William Street, New York. TO THE SICK AND SUFFERING, EVERYWHERE, THE HOPELESSLY SICK WHO WOULD DECLINE IN COMFORT, AND THE THOUSANDS, WHO, NOW DYING, BUT, HAVING THE WAY POINTED OUT, MAY PROVE THEMSELVES STILL " FIT TO SURVIVE/' I dedicate THIS NATURAL CURE OF DISEASE. PREFACE. The inexpert, — they who can not claim sufficient acquaintance with a given subject to enable them to think freely (" free thinking " being altogether another matter),- — find it sufficiently difficult to obtain an author's meaning, when they are really desirous of so doing, and devote some time and patience to the work in hand ; it is impossible, often, to arrive at just conclusions otherwise. The liability to error is in- creased many fold when the subject is not merely not popular, but is, in fact, ^-popular.. It is a prevalent custom to " skim over" a volume, and then praise or condemn it, according to the jreader's preconceived notion. Sick people searching for means whereby they may be made well, sometimes fall into this error, and for want of thoroughness in their reading of a health- book make blunders in carrying out the prescribed treatment. In such cases, not only do the patients themselves suffer, perhaps lose their lives, or fail in some way, but their failures exert an influence tend- ing to throw a sound method into disrepute. In this way it often happens that what is termed "dieting " is either overdone, half done, or not done at all in 2 PREFACE. the manner designed by the author; "exercise" is taken under wrong conditions, as, for example, in point of time in relation to meals, it is conducted spasmod- ically or, perhaps, carried to excess, and the organism thereby depleted instead of strengthened ; if the pre- vailing habit of overwrapping the body is emphati- cally condemned, as is the case in the present volume, the reader, if a convert and designing to " go by the book/' may conclude that he is expected to go shiv- ering about in shirt-sleeves in all weathers ; and the unfriendly critic is sure to make a point — taking off the idea in a manner to send a chill along the spine of an inquiring consumptive. In this way, too, has arisen the saying, as applied to the supposed notion of food-reformers, " Whatever is good is bad, and whatever is bad is good." Whatever it may be worth, therefore, I preface this volume with the sim- ple request that the health-seeker, the casual reader, and the critic, alike, shall examine it in a manner to get the real meaning of the text before practicing, praising or condemning. Charles E. Page. Biddeford, Me., February, 1883. 47 Rutland St., Boston, February, 1884. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGH Introduction, 7 CHAPTER II. Consumption, 28 CHAPTER III. Consumption — {Continued}, 50 CHAPTER IV. Constipation, 107 CHAPTER V. Bright's Disease — (Albuminuria), Croup, Diphthe- ria, etc., . . . . . . . .116 ■'■*> CHAPTER VI. k Insomnia—Insanity, 133 CHAPTER VII. Rheumatism, Fatty Degeneration, etc., . . .145 CHAPTER VIII. Biliousness, "Hay Fever," Neuralgia, etc., . .152 CHAPTER IX. The Flesh-Food Fallacy, 15S CHAPTER X. Air-Baths,. Dyspepsia, Scrofula, etc., . . .166 (3) 4 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XL Saline Starvation— Caution, "Fossil Livers," . 177 CHAPTER XII. Wheat-meal vs. "Entire Flour," . . . . 185 CHAPTER XIII. Fruit, ''Scrofulous Humors," etc., . . . .191 CHAPTER XIV. The One-meal System, 197 CHAPTER XV. The Natural Diet: Its Relation to Scrofula and other Affections, 206 CHAPTER XVI. Malaria, Sewer Gas, "Change of Air" at Home, etc., 236 CHAPTER XVII. Coffee, Medicinally and Dietetically Consid- ered. — The True Theory of Stimulation, . 243 COPTER XVIII. Appetite — Continence, 262 CHAPTER XIX. Conclusion, 270 AUTHORS CITED. Albertoni, Prof. Argyle, Duke of Beale, Sir Lionel, M.D., Etc. Bostwick, Dr. . British Medical Journal Brunton, T. Lauder, M.D., F.R.S. Bryant, William Cullen Combe, Andrew, M.D. Cooper/ Sir Astley, M.D., Etc. Davis, E. H., M.D. . Dickinson, W. Howship, M.D., F.R Evans, Prof., M.D. Farrar, Canon of Westminster fothergill, j. mllner, m.d. Franklin, Dr. Benjamin Frothingham, Rev. O. B. Goode, J. Mason, M.D. Gregory, Prof. James, M.D. Hall, Marshall Haller, Albrecht Von Holmes, Prof. Oliver Wendell, M Hunter, Charles D., M.D., Etc. Huxley, Prof. T. H. . Hygiene of the Brain Jackson, James C, M.D. Lancet, London, Lennen, M., M.D., Etc. McClintock, Dr. Moore, Thomas, M.D. C.P. D., Etc. . 60 . 267 . 152 21 244, 247 59, 137 . 109 20 21 21 . 117 2T . 265 • 63 . 171 . 256 21 21 . 39 . 210 21 . i 7 3 5, 93. 246 icg 9, 270 • ?47 21 ic (5) A UTHORS CITED. Nagel, Richard, M.D. . . * . . 218 Nichols, James R., M.D. ..... 171 Nichols, T. L., M.D. ..... 156, 205 Oswald, Felix L., M.D. . . 29, 45, 47, 49, 51, 70, 188 Parker, Prof. Willard, M.D. . . . .21 Popular Science Monthly ..... 243 Pitcher, , M.D. . ... . . .69 Prescott, Prof. Albert B. . . . . . 243 Richardson, Prof. B. W., M.D. . . . 171, 240 Rush, , M.D. ...... 133 Sargent, Prof.. Dudley A. (Harvard) . . . 261 Savage, M. J. . . . . . . 156, 157 Scientific American ...... 239 SCHLEMMER, Dr. ...... 212 SCHMIDT-MUHLHEIM, PROF. . # . . . 60 Shapter, Lewis, M.D. . . . . . 244 Stevens, A. H., M.D. . . . . .21 Thompson, Sir Henry .... 53> 54» 55. 56 Virey, Jules, M.D. . . . . . . "202 Welch, Prof. (Yale) . . . . . . 5 1 Wood, Prof. Casey A., M.D. . . . . 145 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. ALTHOUGH it is evident to my mind that the world is growing more healthy and more moral with every generation — speaking of civilized nations — it is still, as all agree, in a most pitiful state as regards both moral and physical health. The two are indissolubly associated, notwithstanding the glaring exceptions which are, indeed, more apparent than real, and it is difficult to appreciate which leads — whether man grows more healthy as his moral tone improves or more moral as his physical state is exalted. Both are, in fact, constantly acting and reacting upon each other. Few people withdraw themselves from the in- fluence of disease-producing habits, who do not first come to hate disease as a symptom of disobedience to the laws governing their organism. The pain of an aching head is not sufficient, generally, although it may discount the tortures of the damned, to de- termine the sufferer to live a better life ; but when he comes to know the fact that the disorder is needless, brought upon himself by violation of law, and that it is the normal office of pain to warn of danger ; (7) 8 INTRODUCTION. then, if he be conscientious, instead of cursing his suffering, he will feel ashamed of his sin, and endeavor to learn the laws of life and obey them. " In days gone by and not far away, there was a very general impression with the people that sickness and the death which so often follows it were of divine origination and ordainment. No person who might be sick blamed himself .for it ; certainly no one was held by the community of which he was a member, as in any sense responsible or blameworthy because of his death by sickness. It was believed that for reasons thoroughly justifiable, but incomprehensible to the mind of man, the Supreme Ruler saw fit to manifest His modes and methods of government, either providential or punitive, by taking away the health or the life of those who became sick, or who being sick died of their sickness. " This notion, though not so prevalent as formerly, still lingers in the popular mind and lies hidden away in the select circles of religious people, occasionally to be brought forth and urged upon public consider- ation with emphasis, when some person is taken sick and remains for many months and perhaps years an invalid, or when one taken sick suddenly dies. " There is no basis in science nor in religion for this impression. It never rose, it never can rise, to the dignity or worthiness of an idea ; it must always dwell, no matter who entertains it, on the low level of irrational impression. Its basis is error, not knowledge ; its superstructure is superstition. By and by, when mankind shall reach such a degree of IN TROD UC TION. g rational development as to understand that human life has its laws, and that human health is but the legitimate outcome of the operation of these laws, and that every human being of every tribe and kin- dred and tongue, is born to live on earth under such minute and careful providential arrangements as to hold within him, at his starting, great securities and guarantees of the very highest order, for the continu- ance of his life up to a definite period, and that by reason of this inherent capability, he is entitled to live to the full measure of his endowment, this fool- ish, I may say wicked, notion, that God kills people will disappear. When it shall be abandoned, the sick- ness which now is so common everywhere, and the deaths which now so frequently result, will cease, and human beings will live from birth to death by old age, casualties, and accidents one side, as surely as the seasons come and go." * Few people have any just conception of the preva- lence of disease even in their own midst — among their own kindred ; and this is simply because it never absurdly happens that all those who are subject to ill- nesses are "attacked " at the same time. When any large proportion are down at once, the doctors call it an epidemic, . and it is attributed to a "wave" — an epizootic or influenza wave, for example, according as the victims are horses or men (the poor animals depend upon the elevated race for their habits, and never have disease except these are unphysiologicaH, —when, in fact, the so-called epidemic, whether it be * "The Absurdity of Sickness," by James C. Jackson, M.D. T* I o IN TROD UCTION. scarlet or yellow fever, diphtheria, or what not, is the result chiefly of the uniformly bad living habits of our people and their consequent predisposition to sickness. I do not ignore the influence of contagion in certain disorders, but assert that no person in prime physical condition is ever made sick by tran- sient contact with the so-called contagious diseases. " There can be no doubt," says Dr. Moore, " of the inherent effort of the system to preserve its integrity and to resist and overcome the effects of morbid in- fluences. And when the system is properly organ- ized and perfect in its physiological functions, it has the power to accomplish this (unless these obnoxious influences are so overwhelming as to destroy life at once) in a prompt and complete manner, unaided by any external influences whatsoever, so that health will be maintained and all injurious action of disease- producing causes unconsciously and successfully avert- ed. But if instead of such a properly organized and healthy system, we have formed an incomplete and inferior grade of structural organization, and conse- quently an enervated nervous system, resulting from imperfect and deficient nutrition, such as evidently exists in the scorbutic diathesis (the effect of defi- ciency in vegetable food), or as must result from habitual or frequent digestive disturbances, this en- deavor to resist or avert disease, will be necessarily so enfeebled that it will be impossible for the system, by its own inherent and unaided energy, either to ward off or to overcome the effects of disease-pro- ducing agents. This protective and restorative effort, IN TROD UCTION. 1 1 if not sustained by a high character of structural or- ganization and active nervous energy, must be fol- lowed, therefore, as a natural consequence, by an ex- haustion of vital power ; in which condition there would be evidently an increased susceptibility to all morbific influences, and a marked predisposition to any exciting causes of disease which might be brought to bear upon it. " It is well known that certain individuals are more severely affected by any ascertained cause of disease than others ; and also that the same exciting cause may at one time produce serious disturbance of health, while at another, and under precisely the same conditions, as far as known, no injurious effect is produced. How frequently do we observe during the same epidemic, as, for instance, scarlet fever, measles, diphtheria (and even of sporadic forms of disease), a marked difference in the character and se- verity of individual cases. Even in members of the same family, under apparently similar conditions, some are stricken down with the most malignant form of one of these diseases, while others may, at the same time, be but slightly affected by it, or per- haps entirely escape an attack. It can not be that they who are the most severely affected receive a larger or a stronger dose of the morbific agent which has produced the disorder, than the others, and that the disease-producing influence, in consequence of larger quantity or greater strength and power, acts with more severity and force on one than on another. For, leaving out of consideration all effects of exist- 12 INTRODUCTION. ing predisposition, we know that a person unprotect- ed by a previous attack or by vaccination, would be, in all probability, just as severely affected by the con- tagious influence of a case of small-pox, whether he was exposed for a few moments or for several hours ; and besides, it would make no difference whether the case happened to be a mild one or of a more malig- nant form. " It is, therefore, difficult to account for this varia- ble operation of disease-producing agents, unless we admit the existence of such a latent predisposition as that already mentioned, and acknowledge that the system, at the time of exposure to disease-producing causes, is thereby made more or less susceptible to their effects in proportion to the development of such a predisposition. The less the power of resistance and the greater the degree of impressibility, the more aggravated will be the character of every disease which affect the system while it is thus predisposed ; or, in other words, the severity of the disease will be proportionate to the degree of departure from the standard of health/' * Predisposition is that state of susceptibility pro- duced by the continued operation of the predispos- ing cause. Exciting causes are those which tend to the immediate development of diseases, especially in a system already having a predisposition thereto. But in my opening remarks, I had in view, particu- larly, the common sicknesses that prevail among us, * " Predisposition and Typhoid Tendency," by Thomas Moore, M.D. Philadelphia. IN TROD UCT10N. 1 3 and which are not classed as contagious. Not one in the thousand of our population so lives as to feel an assurance of absolute health for, say, a single month, much less for the corning twelve months. There are, however, among the class I shall hold up as examples to my readers, further on, individuals who would be willing to stake their lives on their ability to meet any engagement depending upon a mental and physical state, equal to that enjoyed at the pres- ent moment, on any day, week, or month, during the next year or ten years ; and every ordinarily healthy person, who can fairly be called a free agent, ought to be able to feel such an assurance in his own case ; and if he be at middle-age, or under, and afflicted with ailments, other than organic and incurable, he should be able to count with certainty on being a better man, physically as well as morally, ten years hence than he is to-day. But how is it in practice? Why, even our national salutation (which is, also, about the same among all civilized nations) is significant in this connection, as we shall observe, further on : if sickness was the ex- ception and not the rule, health would not be the stock question everywhere and always — the prin- cipal theme of conversation — as it is now. People seem to delight in a subject that they know nothing about, like a good old Methodist preacher I once knew, who said on one occasion, at prayer-meeting : "I love to talk about religion — I have so little of it." We talk about enjoying good health, and some of my readers would, I dare say, make the claim for 14 INTRODUCTION. themselves, although too well aware of occasional lapses, and indeed the great proportion of our people, in spite of heredity, might obtain, and rest secure in, a high state of health ; but, living as they do, a truly sound person is almost the rarest thing in the world. " How are you? " is the question on meeting an ac- quaintance. " First-rate, although I have my old sick headaches occasionally." Another replies, " Pretty well, now — have just had a touch of neuralgia — you know I always had that now and then." Another has a " bad cold in the head." Smith enjoys good health, al- though " troubled a good deal with dyspepsia, consti- pation, etc.," which means that he is constantly an- noyed by symptoms inseparable from his disease. Jones is " tip-top," with an occasional " attack" of cholera-morbus, or a bilious spell. Brown " never was better in his life," but could tell you of a fearful sickness last spring — " like to have died," and no wonder — he had three drug doctors and a gallstone ! Robinson is " tough as a knot" — just now — since getting cleaned out by erysipelas — an eruption of the accumulated poison resulting from his bad habits. It was a fearful " attack," as he says ! " The doctor called it the worst case he ever saw — my head was swelled so I couldn't see for weeks — used up a bushel of cranberries in poultices, when I had counted on having cranberry sauce all winter — did not get a spoonful." Of course Robinson exaggerates about the quantity of cranberries. Tom, one of the healthiest-looking specimens, re- cently had typhoid fever and came near dying. Mrs. INTRODUCTION. 1 5 Dick had " slow fever " the past summer and managed to keep it a-going for three months. She says it was a dreadful " attack "; and she tries to explain it by say- ing that several years ago, she had it every summer for three summers, and " it generally leaves the seeds in the system ! " Harry's wife had stoppage and in- flammation of the bowels — a deadly sickness for six months, entailing infinite distress on the large family that needed her about so much. "The doctor's big bill isn't paid yet," she mourns, " and mercy only knows when it will be." She has always been a well woman, so-called, has always seemed pretty well until this terrible disease " attacked " her. The list is endless, of the so-called healthy ones who have been from time to time " attacked" with one disorder or another and recovered, — while the mortality reports from week to week tell the final story of the premature taking off of thousands of men, women, and children who, although always re- garded by themselves and friends as healthy, have suf- fered the death-penalty after a longer or shorter im- prisonment. How often we hear such remarks as this : " I never was so surprised in my life as I was to hear of Miss Blank's death — perfect picture of health — fat, hearty, red-cheeked— the last person in the world I would have thought of dying." This shows how much the people know about health. Ninety-nine in a hundred would have called this young lady a specimen of health, when, in fact, any expert would have known that she was a typhoid subject — almost sure to be 1 6 INTRODUCTION, down with it sooner or later, and, with her whole physical conditions so against her, that recovery would be almost a miracle, under the prevailing sys- tem of treatment. Just recall the scores of cases where you, my dear reader, have been surprised at the death of this or that friend, " always so strong and well." In fact, this is so common that we ex- pect to be surprised continually, and are not much surprised when we are ! How many healthy-born infants die before their first year is reached — babies that for months are mis- takenly regarded as pictures of health — " never knew a sick day until they were attacked " with cholera- infantum, scarlatina, or something else. They are crammed with food, made gross with fat, and for a time are active and cunning, the delight of parents and friends — and then, after a season of constipation, a season of chronic vomiting, and a season of cholera- infantum, the little emaciated skeletons are buried in the ground away from the sight of those who have literally loved them to death. This is the fate of one- third of all the children born. As a rule, babies are fed as an ignorant servant feeds the cook-stove — fill- ing the fire-box so full, often, that the covers are raised, the stove smokes and gases at every hole, and the fire is either put out altogether, or, if there is combustion of the whole body of coals, the stove is rapidly burned out and destroyed. With baby, " overheating" means the fever that consumes him, and, in " putting out the fire," too often the fire of life goes out also.* * For a thorough discussion of this question see the author's work on Infant Dietetics, entitled " How to Feed the Baby " New York : Fowler & Wells. INTRODUCTION, 17 " For the preservation of life God has ordained cer- tain laws to be observed, the neglect of which neces- sarily brings disease and premature death." Hence it is that if any of us are sick — except from accidents or congenital causes — it is our own fault. If v/e have dyspepsia, and the endless afflictions resulting from this parent of diseases, it is our own fault — either of ignorance or carelessness. If neuralgia, " sciatica," rheumatism, gout, or sick-headache afflicts us, we can thank ourselves ; for the simple question is — whether it will "pay" to keep clear of them? It is all very fine to bowl along without thought ; to eat, drink, and breathe, without using our brains or consciences, and to shun the best products of the brains of others who make this subject the study of their lives, and when the inevitable sickness comes shift the respon- sibility on to the Lord. It is rank blasphemy, never- theless. In the struggle of life, when so many of His children are engrossed in the vital question of bread- winning ; when to obtain the mere necessities of life, or, at most, these and the ordinary comforts, requires all the time, early and late, of so large a portion of the human family, it is not to be supposed that the Creator designed that the due and proper care of the body — its development and the maintenance of a healthy state — should be a matter of such complica- tions as to be beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals, or require the expenditure of an amount of time that would prove embarrassing to all, and totally impossible to many. Nor should Christians conclude 1 8 IN TROD UC T/ON. that an " all-wise, all-merciful, and all-powerful Father ' designed that the creatures formed in " His own like- ness " should alone, of all created beings, be necessarily subject to the multifarious forms of disease, that in fact, under present conditions, do so continually afflict them. Happily such conclusions are not borne out by rational experience ; for, in practice, it is found that not only is less trouble and expense required to keep well, than to pursue a course that is promotive of dis- ease ; and to get well when disease is really fastened upon us, than to continue the general regimen that has worked the mischief, and seek to counteract it by poisonous drugs ; but in fact it has been clearly shown by innumerable living examples, that neither much time, trouble, or expense is necessary to maintain the body in a state of absolute health — perfect ease and comfort — when once this state has been reached, or to restore to comparative health a large proportion of " miserable sinners" who, without a radical change in their mode of life, must continue to suffer from their self-inflicted pains. It requires no more time to breathe pure than im- pure air — and no more time or expense to obtain it : it is as free as air, and will fill our homes, without money and without price, unless we seal them against its admission. The poorest factory-operative that goes by the bell, can with a pint of water and a single towel, if need be, take a three-minute bath any or every morning, if he appreciates its importance and is conscientious in his living. It costs no more to eat enough than to over-indulge the appetite, as is the IN TROD UC TION. 1 9 universal rule, high and low, until nausea and lack of appetite compel abstinence or moderation. It costs money to poison the system with beer or tobacco, and thus shorten one's life and impair its usefulness, and transmit evil moral and physical tendencies to his offspring, but it is a ten-fold saving to keep clear of these evils. And so it proves throughout the list : it is cheap to keep well, and dear to get sick. " So to observe Nature as to learn her laws and obey them, is to observe the commandments of the Lord to do them. It has so long been the habit to exalt the mind as the noble, spiritual, and immortal part, at the expense of the body, as the vile, material and mortal part, that, while it is not thought at all strange that every possible care and attention should be given to mental cultivation, a person w T ho should give the same sort of careful attention to his body would be thought somewhat meanly of. And yet I am sure that a wise man who would ease best the burden of life, can not do better than watchfully to keep unde- filed and holy — that is, healthy — the noble temple of his body. Is it not a glaring inconsistency that men should pretend to fall into ecstasies of admiration of the temples which they have built with their own hands, and to claim reverence for their ruins, and, at the same time, should have no reverence for, or should actually speak contemptuously of, that most complex, ingenious, and admirable structure which the human body is? However, if they really neglect it, it is secure of its revenge — no one will come to much by his most strenuous mental exercises, except upon the 20 INTRODUCTION. basis of a good organization ; for a sound body is assuredly the foundation of a sound mind." (Mauds- ley). That there is need of a radical change in the study and practice of medicine, is well known among those who have examined the subject with any degree of thoroughness. A prominent defect is thus described by the eminent Dr. Combe : "The little regard," he says, " which has hitherto been paid to the laws of the human constitution, as the true basis on which our attempts to improve the condition of man ought to rest, will be obvious from the fact, that, notwith- standing the direct uses, to which a knowledge of the conditions, which regulate the healthy action of the bodily organs, may be applied in the prevention, de- tection, and treatment of disease, there is scarcely a medical school in this country (Great Britain)* in which any special provision is made for teaching it. .... The prominent aim of medicine being to dis- criminate, and to cure diseases, both the teacher and the student naturally fix upon that as their chief object, and are consequently apt to overlook the indirect (!) but substantial aid, which an acquaintance with the laws of health is calculated to afford, in restoring the sick as well as in preserving the healthy from dis- ease." The use of the word " indirect," in this con- nection shows how far Dr. Combe, himself, was from having a true comprehension of the importance of * Some advance has been made in this direction of late, but the outlook is far from satisfactory ; there is scarcely a college lecture-room but in defi- cient ventilation, or a lecturer whose living habits, and, consequently, per- sonal health, do not cry aloud, " Physician, heal thyself." IN TROD UC TION. 2 1 hygienic knowledge. Although individuals, here and there, finally work out this knowledge for themselves, it is generally late in life, when long years of blunder- ing practice have forced it upon them. Hear what some of the wise old heads say on this point : A. H. Stevens, M.D. : "The older physicians grow, the more skeptical they become in the virtues of their own medicines." Prof. Willard Parker : " Of all sciences, medicine is the most unreliable." Prof E. H. Davis: "The vital effects of medicine are little understood." J. Mason Goode, M.D. : "The science of medicine is a barbarous jargon." Dr. Bostwick, author of " History of Medicine " : " Every dose of medicine is a blind experiment." Prof. Evans, M.D. : " The medical practice of the present day is neither philosophy nor common sense." It was the well- known remark of Dr. James Gregory, who added as much reputation to the medical school of the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, as any other individual — that, " ninety-nine in the hundred medical ( facts ' are medi- cal lies, and that all medical theories are stark, star- ing nonsense." Dr. McClintock : " Mercury has made more cripples than all wars combined," and he might have added that the abuse of soda or potassa in its present various forms is destroying myriads of stom- achs every year beyond redemption. Sir Astley Cooper, the most famous physician and surgeon of the age: "The science of medicine is founded on conjecture and improved by murder." Oliver Wen- dell Holmes said before a medical class in 1 86 1 : " The disgrace of medicine has been that colossal 22 INTRODUCTION. system of self-deception, in obedience to which mines have been emptied of their cankering minerals, the vegetable kingdom robbed of all its growth, the en- trails of animals taxed for their impurities, the poi- son bags of reptiles drained of their venom, and all the conceivable abominations thus obtained thrust down the throats of human beings, suffering from some fault of organization, nourishment, or vital stimulation. " That the practice of medicine to-day is not what it should be, is due largely to the position of the laity on this point — their aversion to taking advice instead of medicine. They will consider the question of prevention, in the shape of anti-bilious pills, for ex- ample, but not at the expense of their lawful follies. If indeed physicians, generally, knew enough about the natural laws to retain their own health, how could they all derive an income from teaching the simple method by which all their neighbors would remain well ? A patient, for example, is suffering pain, and sends for the doctor, who comes, examines, and finally says, " I find nothing serious here — this pain in the head will soon leave you — just keep about if you can ; if not, remain quiet. Coming in from the fresh air, I observe that your room is very close, sufficient of itself to give ybu the headache — change the air and keep it pure ; eat nothing more to-day : you are " ahead of your stomach," withal ; in fact, that is the chief trouble, Take a quick sponge bath on retiring, and you will find yourself all right in the morning — you need no medicine." Do you fancy he would get INTRODUCTION. 23 another call from her, or from her friends through her influence? Her head aches, and she is incensed at such heartless nonsense. She sends for another doctor, who will probably be sharp enough to treat her disposition, and endeavor to " control the symp- toms " instead of teaching her to remove the disease by removing its cause ; he gives her a " quieting medicine " — something to deaden her senses ; she has several days' illness, he gets several fees — as he ought, to be sure — and the good-will of the family ; and so he rises in the profession, while the other falls into the shade unless he drops his hygienic nonsense. Thus, we observe, a premium on shrewdness and a tax on sincerity. " It is notorious that in proportion to people's ig- norance of their own constitutions and the true causes of disease, is their credulous confidence in pills, po- tions, and quackish absurdities, and while this igno- rance continues, there will, of course, be plenty of doctors who will pander to it. And not the least of the benefits likely to follow the better diffusion of physiological and sanitary information will be the protection of the community from the numberless impostures of charlatanism, and a better discrimina- tion of the qualifications of competent physicians. " * I take it that all are agreed as to the desirability of good health, although it is often said of a certain class of chronic invalids, that if they were to be de- prived of the pleasure of croning over and detailing their symptoms, life would have no charms for them. * " Physiology and Hygiene," Huxley and Yotimans. 24 INTRODUCTION, But this is a provision of nature to prevent the mean est life from becoming altogether an unmitigated burden : when a person becomes so disordered phys- ically that he has nothing else to enjoy, a certain depraved condition of mind is induced which enables him to extract a little satisfaction from dwelling upon and recounting his miseries ! In contrast to such cases how gloriously shines out the example of the old lady who, on being interviewed by the minister, thus related her experiences : her husband had been long dead, leaving her with eight children, whom, through her own labor, she reared and educated. One after another all had died after lingering illnesses — the last, a son, the only support of her old age, had been recently buried ; and, to crown all, the remnant of the little property left by her husband, had just passed from her possession — the uninsured buildings by fire, and the land by the foreclosure of the mort- gage. " But/' concluded the dear old soul, while her brow lightened and her eye kindled with enthusiasm, " thank the Lord, I have two teeth left, and praise and bless His holy name, they are opposite each other ! " I pause to note an important lesson — the influence upon health, of prevalent good nature, and the habit, which may be cultivated, of looking on the bright side of things. " People ask me," says Old So- journer Truth, " how I came to live so long and keep my mind, and I tell them that it is ' because I think of the great things of God, not little things/ I don't fritter my mind away in caring for trifles." It has been elsewhere noted — the propensity of INTRODUCTION. 25 people in general for preferring medicine to advice. If the world were convinced that the writer possessed an unfailing remedy — a " medicine 5 ' that would cure every physical ailment and prevent disease, it would be demanded faster than it could be manufactured, though every gin-mill in the land were transformed into a laboratory for its production. No price would be deemed exorbitant, and, though the mixture were black as ink, and more nauseating than the vilest drug in our vile Materia Medica, it would still be gulped down as a child demolishes bon-bons, if it never fail- ed in its efficacy. We have only to look over the newspaper advertis- ing columns to find scores of articles claiming to ac- complish this, at the very reasonable price of 50 cents to $1.00 per bottle, "large bottles cheapest/' and very agreeable to the taste ; and evidence abounds in the shape of letters purporting to have been written by such as have, although given up by the doctors, been withdrawn from the grave (regardless of the rights of the heirs and undertakers) — restored to the busy walks of life — " and no change of diet necessary/' Thousands upon thousands of otherwise sensible people are gull- ed into the belief that a few bottles of somebody's pretended " discovery," advertised in a yellow-cover- ed almanac, will cure whatever ails them. There is something so fascinating about such literature that I would almost as soon place a package of Paris-green within reach of a baby as to put, say, a medical al- manac, and more particularly a cookery-book wit... fancy dishes and medical lies alternating, in the hands 2 6 INTRODUCTION. of the average adult. There isn't one in fifty proof against them. Let the most robust Congressman spend one half-hour reading one of these " messages/' with the endless variety of symptoms therein given, and the hundreds of letters of the blest — fabricated in the proprietor's office, or, at best, written by his victims during a temporary suppression of the symp- toms — and, comparing his own feelings with those described, the chances are that he would soon be pouring down the medicine — convinced that it hit his case exactly. Why is this possible? Why, indeed, do we have a drug-store on every other corner, with •shelves packed with the infamous " regular" and irregular remedies, simple and compound ? Simply because ninety-five in the hundred men, women, and children so treat themselves that they do have, from day to day, or week to week, various symptoms more or less severe, all indicative of derangement of the bodily functions. And because of this the medicine- makers know that he who is the keenest and boldest in prostituting the art of printing, will reap the richest harvest, by reason of the ignorance and disease-pro- ducing habits of the people. I will conclude these introductory remarks with the beautiful and impressive language of Professor Maudsley, the eminent English physician, especially celebrated in connection with the treatment of men- tal disorders, and who, as shown by the paragraph already quoted, emphasizes in the strongest manner, not only the intimate connection between the mind and the body — their interdependence the one with INTRODUCTION. 27 the other — but, also, the moral obligation of the man to learn and obey the laws which tend to exalt both : " Notably the best rules for the .conduct of life are the fruits of the best observations of men and things ; the achievements of science are no more than the or- ganized gains — orderly and methodically arranged — of an exact and systematic observation of the various departments of Nature; the noblest products of the arts are Nature ennobled through human means, the art itself being Nature. There are not two worlds — a world of Nature and a world of human nature — standing over against one another, in a sort of antag- onism, but one world of Nature, in the orderly evolu- tion of which human nature has its subordinate part. Disease, hallucinations, idiosyncrasies of whatever sort, are the product of disobedience to law — discordant notes in the Divine harmony, which result from an unskillful or careless touch. It should, then, be every man's steadfast aim, as a part of Nature, his patient work, to cultivate such entire sincerity of relations with it, so to think, feel, and act, always in intimate unison with it, that when the summons comes to sur- render his mortal part to absorption into it, he does so, not fearfully, as to an enemy who has vanquished him, but trustfully, as to a mother who, when the day's task is done, bids him lie down to sleep." CHAPTER II. CONSUMPTION. AMONG the causes of consumption it is usually held that inherited tendency is one of the most efficient. Considering, however, the fact that this is a matter beyond our control ; that is, a cause that we can not remove, it is hardly worth while to devote further space, just here, to its consideration. We can not create a new constitution; neither the mischief of a defective inheritance, nor of years of disobe- dience to the laws of life, can be atoned for — the future only is ours ; the balance of vital capital can be expended judiciously, good health regained, often, and life made easy and extended to the utmost limit. Leaving the question of the influence of the spiritual over the physical nature for later consideration (see Conclusion), we have, practically, to take the body as we find it, and aim to conserve its vitality and to im- prove its condition ; and when affected by disease, whether inherited or acquired, to seek its removal by building up the constitution, so to say, by every means in our power. Notwithstanding the prevalent belief among physi- cians and laymen to the contrary, a belief based upon (28) CONSUMPTION. 2 9 the result of a form of treatment as irrational as it is uniform and universal, I agree with Dr. Oswald, who, in his new work — the most entertaining, as well as the soundest health-book extant — asserts that " Pul- monary fonsuniption, in its early stages, is perhaps the most curable of all chronic diseases. The rec- ords of the dissecting-room prove that in numerous cases lungs, wasted to one-half of their normal size, have been healed, and, after a perfect cicatrization of the tuberculous ulcefs, have for years performed all the essential functions of the sound organ. Still, the actual waste of tissue is never perfectly repaired, and fragmentary lungs, supplying the undiminished wants of the whole organism, must necessarily do double work, and will be less able to respond to the demands of an abnormal exigency. " But the lungs of a young child of consumptive parents are sound, though very sensitive, and, if the climacteric of the first teens has been passed in safety, or without too serious damage, the problem becomes reduced to the work of preservation and invigoration : the all but Intact lungs of the healthy child can be more perfectly redeemed than the rudimentary organs of the far-gone consumptive ; the phthisical taint can be more entirely eliminated and the respiratory appa- ratus strengthened to the degree of becoming the most vigorous part of the organism. The poet Goethe, afflicted in his childhood with spitting of blood and other hectic symptoms, thus completely redeemed himself by a judicious system of self-culture. Cha- teaubriand, a child of consumptive parents, steeled 3 o THE NATURAL CURE OF his constitution by traveling and fasting, and reached his eightieth year. " By a relapse into imprudent habits, however, the latent spark, which under such circumstances seems to defy the eliminative efforts of half a century, may at any time be fanned into life-consuming flames ; but in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases it will be found that the first improvement followed upon a change from a sedentary to an outdoor and active mode of life." * Anything that constitutes a tax upon the system beyond its ability to extract an ultimate good there- from — for we know that, within certain limits, taxing the powers, the mental, physical and emotional, tends to exalt them — or to put it squarely : anything that overtaxes the system in any direction, tends to induce that state or condition commonly recognized as con- sumption. No greater error can be made than that of considering this disease as primarily affecting the lungs. The lungs are readily affected by disorder of the digestive organs. While it may not at first be plain to the ordinary reader how catarrh, sore throat, bron- chitis and even congestion of the lungsf could origi- nate in this manner; it is nevertheless true that they not only can and do thus originate, but this is in fact the most available and constantly operative source of respiratory affections. They may be affected directly * Oswald's " Physical Education." t This disorder, which is supposed often to cause consumption, is rather a disease of indigestion, and is especially apt to attack patients already in consumption, because of their chronically disordered nutritive and respira* tory organs. CONSUMPTION. 31 by continuity of tissue, or indirectly through the sympathetic system. All understand something about the practical working of the telegraphic sys- tem, by which a touch of the wire at Boston, for example, may not only be felt at any point in our own country, but even in England or Europe. How often, in joy or affliction, the wire constitutes a sym- pathetic connection between friends, families, na- tions. The nervous system forms a sympathetic con- nection between the different parts throughout the organism, only it is more complete, ten thousand times over, than the telegraphic or telephonic system. If in these cases the wires were to take on disease, — be- come inflamed and so affected as to cause the same states, emotions, or disasters, at the point where an unhappy message is received as at the point of de- parture, — it would constitute for the nation and the w r orld what the sympathetic nervous system does for the animal organism. Should we not, then, de- plore its existence, and grieve that we aje so " fear- fully and wonderfully made " ? Nevertheless, it is directly a great boon, and but for this intimate con- nection between the different portions of the body — for want of this most efficient set of safety valves, so to say- — the organs primarily affected would more often become fatally diseased and life speedily terminated. Indeed, in spite of this most wonderful provision of nature, the violations of law are so constant and severe, or so overwhelming upon occasion, that life is often destroyed with but a moment of warning, as in apoplexy, " heart disease/' and sunstroke, so called. 32 THE NATURAL CURE OF Strictly speaking, however, even in these cases there have been premonitions without number, dating afar back (see Bright's Disease), which would have pre- vented the disaster if only they had been known and heeded. Says Professor J. C. Zachos {Studies in Science) : "..■... Such is the present system of telegraph- ing, which if it were multiplied so as to include every town and hamlet in the country, yea, even be within the reach of every individual as an operator, would convey but a feeble illustration of the complication, the number, the power, and the perfect unity of a similar system in the human body. " We have first in each individual cell a galvanic battery. There are countless millions of such cells in the human body, whose united force has never been estimated, but doubtless a million of tons would not approximate to the force they are exerting at any one instant of time. Each of these cells is provided with two nerves ;• an afferent and an efferent nerve, a carrier to, and a carrier from, that center ; each, endowed with different functions by reason of the duality of force generated in each cell : a force of motion and a force of sensation. A number of such cells and nerves may be combined and at a certain point of the circuit they make there, a concentration and accumulation of power by a plexus and convolution of these nerves, around a central substance called * neureline ' — a gran- ulated collection of particles that seem to take the place of the soft iron in the helix, for they are always found in the midst of these convoluted masses of CONSUMPTION. 33 nerves; these masses are called ganglia; they are the centers of nervous power and intelligence, connected each with some special group of functions ; associated by connecting nerves with each other, and having their central and common connection in the largest ganglion, called the brain. " No part of the system fails to be visited by these nerves, and although they are not discoverable in every tissue, yet their presence is inferred, because their func- tion is there — sensation or motion, or both.* " We can not at present enter into details in enu- merating the number, the structure, the special func- tions of these several ganglia, which might well be called the telegraphic stations of the body ; they vary from the size of a grain of sand, to that of the brain which fills the cavity of the skull. " But what shall we say of that principle of intelli- gence which pervades every part of this complicated system ; which dwells in each of the thousand millions of cells, where the chemical laboratories are furnish- ing out of the crude materials of the food, the won- derful organisms of every part of the body? Intelli- gence and contrivance reign in every cell ; combina- tion and co-operation are carried on through the instru- mentality of the nervous system. At the centres of co-operation and power there seem to be placed higher forms of intelligence that govern the whole of the subordinate functions by some unitary plan governing * Is it possible to overestimate the importance of perfect nutrition by which only this wonderful system can be preserved in health ? (See " Saline Starvation.") 34 THE NATURAL CURE OF thus the functions of the heart, or the liver, or the lungs. Finally, for the moral and social exigencies of man, there is provided an enormous centralization of co-operative intelligences and powers, that seem to have their seat in the brain ; but it is a republic and not a monarchy ; every individual cell in the body has its representative there, mediately or immediately ; every one contributes to the welfare of the whole, and can not be denied its rights, or be neglectful of its duties, without injury, in that proportion, to the whole republic. " There is a subtle and indefinable health beyond that of the stomach and muscular powers ; a man may be torpid in moral brain and intellectual functions, who yet has an excellent appetite and can do the work of an ox* This is not usually regarded as sick- ness, or needing any physiological treatment. But it is as much so as the grossest form of sickness. A man's temper and disposition may be the only evi- dence that his liver is out of order. A paroxysm of rage may come from a diseased spleen, and many a murder, arson, and suicide, I doubt not, come from a defective hygiene. " Physiology is an integral part of theology. Sani- tary reforms lie at the foundation of moral reforms. Christianity is health, and the means of escaping from disease. " No delusion is so vain as to suppose that this * Others, again, are physically as well as mentally impotent, while eating enormously, ' ' the digestion and excretion of superfluous food almost mo« uopolizing the vital energy." CONSUMPTION. 35 world is ever to be Christianized, society purified and exalted, man saved and brought to' the divine likeness, while a thousand forms of disease prey upon his vitals, cloud his moral perceptions, enfeeble or exas- perate his will, overwhelm him with pain and confu- sion, even in the midst of his noblest designs; and all this, because he knows not, or respects not suffi- ciently, the laws of his physical nature ; the subtle powers and mechanism of which are as divine in their origin and inflexible in their character as any that govern the soul." It is not necessary to know, precisely, how this sympathetic or telegraphic system operates in the conservation of health, but all of this knowledge that is essential to us is the understanding of the main fact, to know the nature of a message and from whence it comes, or its probable origin when doubt arises. It is owing to an imperfect knowledge of this law which causes so general a belief in the theory that the in- ternal organism takes on disease readily from the action of cold upon the surface of the body. But, in fact, the skin was especially designed to be played upon by extremes of heat and cold, wind and wet ; and human beings are not necessarily such pitiable creatures as they are made to appear from the general suppo- sition that a transient exposure to a current of pure air, whether wet, dry, cold or hot, is likely to bring on disease. "The immediate effects of a displacement of blood from the surface, and its determination to the internal organs, are not," says the Lancet, " as was once supposed, sufficient to produce the sort of con- 36 THE NATURAL CURE OF gestion that issues in inflammation. If it were so, an inflammatory condition would be the common charac- teristic of our bodily state. When the vascular sys- tem is healthy, and that part of the nervous appa- ratus by which the calibre of the vessels is controlled performs its functions normally, any disturbance of equilibrium in the circulatory system which may have been produced by external cold will be quickly ad- justed. " Nothing so readily promotes disorder of the vascular system, and of the nervous apparatus which controls it, as to interfere with the nutrition of the nervous system ; and in turn, no cause is more effect- ual, and none more speedy, among the ordinary vicis- situdes of life, in depriving the nerves and tissues of their appropriate aliment, than an excessive or other- wise unwholesome diet and the consequent disturb- ance of the organs of nutrition; and the excess is increased relatively, and the disorder intensified* in proportion as the body is sweltered with clothing and defrauded of the " breath of life " — outdoor air. It is a very significant comment on the cold-air fallacy, that people of all ages, sexes, occupations and social positions, and in all conditions of general health, catch cold, say to-day, from the slightest exposures, often, indeed, they are totally at a loss to account for them except upon one surmise or another, like that of the old lady who -* caught her death o cold taking gruel out of a damp basin"; while next month, or next week, perhaps, the same individuals endure the most extreme exposure, as, for example, riding for hours in face of a driving rain or snow-storm, until wet and chilled through and through ; or, perhaps, being' CONSUMPTION. 37 turned out at night in bitter cold, half clad, to find their way from their burning dwelling to a distant neighbor's — in short, they may suffer the most taxing exposures and yet " catch " nothing more than a good appetite for a warm dinner or a cheery fireside. The boy who, as was supposed, caught a fearful cold one warm day last week, from merely stepping to the door bareheaded, stole away yesterday, when the mercury was twenty or thirty degrees lower, and bare- headed and barefooted, paddled in the frog-pond un- til his clothes were wet through and his lips blue with cold, and yet he turned out this morning without a trace of disease ! Can we learn nothing from con- stantly occurring instances of this character? The simple fact is, in such cases, in the first instance the victims were in bad condition, they had found the end of their rope, so to say, i.e., they had reached a point where from continued bad living the system could no longer contain the accumulated impurities and the overflow had to come, and come it would, sooner or later (and the later, the more severe), with- out even the influence of the slightest current of air, or any form of exposure. If a slight chill was ex- perienced it arose from the internal fever, and not, as was foolishly supposed, from the puff of pure air that was felt co-incident ly. But in the second instance, the " cold " of last week had cleansed the system more or less completely, and now, owing to the improved condition, the really severe exposures give rise to no symptoms of disease — the temporary inconvenience from the wet or the cold is all. Personally, I have been a life-long sufferer from 38 THE NATURAL CURE OF colds, and as with every one (how many pass a year without "a cold " of some sort?) they came in a variety of forms, from the "snuffles" of crammed infancy and the "hay fever" of adult age, to neural- gia, rheumatism, and the like. No matter what name may be settled on, finally, to describe the disease, whether rheumatism, neuralgia, sick headache, kidney complaint, bilious fever, or what not, the victim is sure to say : " I caught a severe cold some way, and it settled " — wherever the uneasy symptoms are felt.* " A succession of colds " is the commonly-named ex- cuse, and the honestly-believed-in cause of lung affec- tions, including consumption ; but as the phrase is usually understood, it is the veriest blunder — the most pernicious blunder possible. Hence the space devoted to this subject. Some years ago I made a change in my habits as to diet and clothing : I quite abruptly abandoned the use of heavy-weight gar- ments, heavy flannels, and the practice of "bundling up " upon occasions of exposure, and I gave up the three-meal system, and the fish, flesh, and fowl, and * And so with non-healing wounds, cuts, bruises, " cold-sores," etc. Those people who have their bodies built up of impure material, who are unsound through and through, always "catch cold in it" when they have a wound of any kind or a sore ; and their flesh is easily wounded and sores come often, more or less mysteriously, and the most trifling wound that would, in the case of a healthy man, woman, or child, heal readily, and in a few days be entirely well, in their case "festers," and maybe troublesome for weeks or months, perhaps necessitating the amputation of a linger, hand, or a limb, or even causing death. Healthy people have no occasion for sores, boils, etc. ; but if filth exists in the system, these little volcanoes tend to eliminate it, and to the prevention of other diseases. The suppression of catarrhal or diarrhceal discharges often results in dangerous sicknesses, even fatal sick- nesses, unless their cause is first removed. (See Bright's Disease.) CONSUMPTION, 39 most of the accompaniments of the flesh diet, and have since lived mainly on vegetable food. I eat twice a day, nominally, but invariably skip a meal if there is any sign of indigestion, or whenever I think I should be better off without eating. I eat on an average about a dozen meals a week, each less in amount, though more nutritious than formerly. This keeps my appetite always perfect, but I am never " hungry," as when I ate three meals every day, " work or play." I was formerly hungry before every meal, and if any one of them was delayed for a single hour there was sure to be a faint and languid feeling — a disinclination for, and a seeming inability to, labor — which, however, would usually disappear if I kept on working ! From this I finally learned a most valuable lesson, viz : that the craving appetite that tempts one to forestall the regular meal hour is a species of " poison-hunger," akin to that which torments the inebriate if his customary dram is not forthcoming. In either case, whether the congested stomach seems to crave solid or liquid stim- ulants, the only wise thing is to abstain, remove or relieve the inflammatory state of the stomach by giv- ing it rest from digestive labor, and by judicious drink- ing of pure water, and then eat and drink so as to prevent a recurrence of the disorder. So universal is this disagreeable feeling with three-meal-flesh-and- pastry eaters and coffee-drinkers that Marshall Hall, evidently himself ignorant of its nature and cause, refers what he styles the "temper disease" to the mauvais quart d'heure before dinner! 4 o THE NATURAL CURE OF Since adopting the new plan I can truly say that when I live up to it, as I do most of the time, I never have any of the symptoms of what is commonly known as cold, nor, indeed, any kind of physical inconvenience whatever. And yet, only twelve years ago, my physical condition was such that I bade fair to follow my mother, an aunt, an uncle, a sister, and a brother, all of whom died of tubercular consumption under the prevailing general regimen and medical treatment, both of which I design in this treatise to unqualifiedly denounce. In order, however, to see if I could, by exposure, cause the well-known symptoms of cold, I have made many experiments, some of which I will name : I have walked in snow and slop with low shoes until both shoes and socks were soaked through, and have sat thus for an hour or more ; after wearing all-wool flannels during moderate weather, I have, upon the approach of colder weather, removed my under-gar- ments, and have then attended to my outdoor affairs, minus the overcoat habitually worn ; I have slept in winter in a current blowing directly about my head and shoulders; upon going to bed, I have sat in a strong current, ejitirely nude, for a quarter of an hoifr, on a very cold, damp night in the fall of the year ; I have worn a flannel gown, and slept under heavy-weight bed-covers one night, and in cotton night-shirt and light-weight bed-clothes the next. These and similar experiments I have made repeat- edly, and have never been able to catch cold. I become cold, sometimes quite cold, and become CONSUMPTION. 41 warm again, that is all. On the other hand, chang- ing the form of my experiments, returning to my old way, the prevalent style of living — a " generous diet " and a full meal every five or six hours through the day — I have found no difficulty in accumulating a cold ; and within a reasonable length of time could count upon it, although, now, a part of the programme consisted in taking the most extreme care to avoid what are commonly reckoned as exposures — keeping my feet ever warm and dry, paying strict attention to wraps,* etc. This is not simply my own individ- ual experience, but, also, of others who, either of their own accord or through my suggestion, have carefully , studied the matter ; while rational hygienists, gen- erally, attest to the main fact, that they endure all the ordinary vicissitudes of life without often being troubled with this most disagreeable complaint. In the course of my experimentation, whenever I have fed my cold as far as I wished or dared to go, I have, in every instance, banished the disease by ab- staining from food and indulging in extra rations of outdoor air — rain or shine. I have never known this remedy to fail of " breaking up " a common cold in twenty-four to forty-eight hours, whatever the age, sex, or occupation of the individual, and regardless of the supposed origin of the disease. Of course the * Said an observing friend to me : " I am apt to catch cold when I put on my winter flannels ; why is that ? " With those who may happen to be already near the brink, this effect is likely to follow the addition of an extra layer of flannel to the ordinary dress, unless they leave out a layer of food, so to say, or the weather happens to be enough colder on that day, to counteract the extra clothing. 42 THE NATURAL CURE OF size of the " dose " must bear some relation to the severity of the disorder. Whenever I have chosen to prolong one of these experiments by continuing to eat heartily, as is customary with people in general, I have found my experience identical with that of others : the symptoms would increase in severity, and to acute catarrh, headache, slight feverishness, and languor, would be added sore throat, perhaps, w T ith pressure at the lungs, hoarseness, increased fever, and entire indisposition for exertion. In this case two, perhaps three, days' fasting (one, maybe two, in bed) would be required, w r ith a little extra sponging of the • skin, to reduce the fever and completely restore the balance. I have, to be sure, never been reckless enough to subject my system to the influence of impure air — to the quality of air, for example, that is the daily and nightly reliance of ninety and nine families in the hundred, rich or poor, in the city or country — this I would never do ; and for this reason my " colds " would be less severe, other things equal, than those of my neighbors, and more readily amen- able to "treatment"; but'the principle holds good in all cases. There are all degrees of obtuseness observ- able in the mental efforts of our fellow-creatures : I have had persons reply to this, that they " couldn't agree " with me entirely in my position, for they had "tried the remedy," when, in fact, as they would more or less hesitatingly admit, they had kept up their three-meal feeding, even after the appetite had passed the craving stage and the fitful stage ; and even after food became loathsome they had punished CONSUMPTION. 43 themselves more or less gruelly ; but, finally, driven to the wall, and eating little or nothing for a few days or weeks, because it was physically impossible to eat more, they have the assurance to declare, or the sublime stupidity to believe, that they have tried the fasting-cure, and that while " it might cure some," it wouldn't answer for them ! And they usually add — of all aphorisms the most foolish and misleading — " one's meat, another's poison." * It results, in such * Were I to summarize the arguments against the saying, that "what is meat for one is poison for another," I would put it something like this : Its author, and the people, have been deceived in that one person can dear whdt another can not. Some constitutions have withstood the worst habits — vio- lations of all the known laws of life — gluttony, intemperance to the degree of almost constant drunkenness, the grossest and most constant immorality in departments the most exhausting, until passed what we call old age — and still have rounded out a full century of life. Many, on the other hand, of frailer make, have, by reason of a tithe of such misconduct, been swept into premature graves, at middle-age, early manhood, or even in youth. Others, again, like the last named, and rapidly following them to destruction, have been kept back, put on the mending hand, and have lived fairly long lives, from renouncing their immoral practices, or, perhaps, simply their "un- healthy " practices as to diet, when these have been their only faults. As elsewhere remarked, thousands of lives have been saved and robust health re- gained, or gained for the first time, from adopting the vegetarian, as against the prevailing " mixed," diet. I believe that the reverse of this will not be even claimed by any one who has a right to claim expert knowledge. It may be relied upon that no substance that is positively wholesome for one person, is, in and of itself , injurious — speaking with relation to food. To this rule, it must be admitted, there are a few, isolated and, as yet, not fully explained exceptions — but the rule holds good ; and it is equally certain that whatever is, in and of itself , harmful for one person to eat or drink, smoke, snuff, or chew, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, food or medicine, is not good, certainly not best, for any other person to eat, drink, absorb, or take into the system in any manner. It is true that there are many things transpiring be- fore our eyes every day which, to the superficial observer — and only the well- informed upon a given subject can see beneath the surface — form apparent exceptions to this rule — even to the degree of seeming to cast it aside as not a rule ; nevertheless, no rule holds more uniformly true than this. 44 THE NATURAL CURE OF cases, that if the individual recovers, he does so as the effect of seven-eighths starvation, involuntarily practiced, and extending over a period of weeks or months, when a few days of total abstinence early enough in the contest, before the appetite declined, would have saved the system from the depletion of a long-continued strain. Lest it be inferred that I design to intimate that any one could at once imitate my cold air experi- ments with impunity, immediately upon changing his method of living, I hasten to say that not all could do this, any more than they could imitate the muscular feats of an athlete. As the depraved muscular system has to be built up by degrees and by long practice, so the life-long sweltered skin can become accustomed to extreme changes of temper- ature only by a somewhat gradual change of habit. Besides, it takes some time for the general system to come under the influence of a pure diet ; and, again, the best of remedies have to be graduated in amount to the present condition of the patient. However, I am sure that most persons who will accustom them- selves to an out-door life and to light clothing, have only to reform their eating -habits to make them- selves virtually disease proof; while all classes may derive great benefit from a rational application of the principle. That certain symptoms, popularly called cold, are often excited by exposure to fresh air, damp air, draughts, and the like, is true enough ; and we should be devoutly thankful for this provision of Nat- CONS UMP TION. 45 ure. But it is likewise true that these " exposures " do not, and can not, originate the disease that in its exit manifests the well-known symptoms. That al- ready exists, and has been for months, perhaps, ac- cumulating in the system; and now, an unusual amount of fresh air in the lungs and in contact with the skin, has so invigorated the organism as to enable it to institute measures for thrusting out the real disease ; hence catarrh, cough, expectoration, fever — for the name, cold, is a complete misnomer, and based upon a misconception as to the real nature of the disorder : the patient may be never so chilly, but the thermometer placed under the tongue at once shows that the temperature is above the normal standard. Says Dr. Oswald :* " Rightly interpreted, the external symptoms of disease constitute a restorative process that can not be brought to a satisfactory issue till the cause of the evil is removed. So that, in fact, the air- hater confounds the cause of his recovery with the cause of his disease. Among nations who pass their lives out-doors, catarrh and scrofula are unknown ; not fresh air, but the want of it, is the cause of countless diseases, of fatal diseases where people are in the habit of nailing down their windows every winter to keep their children from opening them. The only objection to a 'draught* through a de- fective window is, that the draught is generally not strong enough. An influx of fresh air into a sick- room is a ray of light into darkness, a messenger of * " Physical Education," by F. L. Oswald, M.D. New York : D. Apple- ton & Co. 46 THE NATURAL CURE OF Vishnu visiting an abode of the damned. Cold air," he continues, " is a disinfectant, and under the pres- sure of a high wind a modicum of oxygen will pene- trate a house in spite of closed windows. This circumstance alone has preserved the lives of thou- sands whom no cough syrup, or cod-liver oil could have saved." Referring once more to the sympathetic telegraph, we find, for instance, that a small wound in the foot may produce lock-jaw ; a blow on the elbow makes the fingers tingle ; touch the soft palate with the finger and the stomach offers up its contents ; and in the same manner, substantially, irritation or congestion of the stomach or intestines will give rise to tickling in the throat, itching of the nose,* etc., etc. ; and if the primary disease be severe or «constant, or of frequent occurrence, acute or chronic disease of the lungs may result. Indeed, I am led to the conclusion that the lungs seldom be- come disordered in any other manner. The pneu- mogastric nerve with its various branches forms a close " sympathy " between the brain and the larynx, bronchi, lungs, liver, heart and stomach. Is there, in reason and common sense, any necessity for argu- ment to prove that of all the organs the stomach is the most abused ; or rather, that of all our abuses of this wonderful temple of the body those inflicted by * It is not from habit, simply, that children pick the nose, and half the occupants of a drawing-room car, even, devote a sly moment to the same inspiring occupation ! Observe the prevalence of red noses, enlarged nos- trils, etc., among coffee drinkers and dyspeptics, as well as liquor drinkers. CONSUMPTION, 47 the medium of the alimentary system are the most flagrant and most constant? Consider for one moment that the food taken from day to day should be plain and simple, and that in quality and quantity it should bear a close relation to the following circumstances or conditions, viz.: (i) to the season and the climate ; (2) to the purity of the air habitually breathed ; (3) amount of clothing worn ; (4) amount of mental and physical labor per- formed ; (5) the existing physical condition as to (a) appetite — whether normal or abnormal, as for ex- ample, ravenous, fitful or none at all ; (J?) strength — whether full, or exhausted from fatigue ; (6) mental state — whether the mind is at ease, or from one or another cause distressed, as with grief, anger,* etc.; (7) the natural constitution — whether delicate or robust. How many, let me ask, in any community consider any of these conditions, or are to any extent in- fluenced by them ? Not that the question is, after all, as complicated as would at first sight appear ; on the contrary, it is very simple, indeed. We have only to clothe ourselves in loose and comfortable garments ; keep clean ; breathe out-door air — whether we are indoors or out, day and night ;f lead * Few causes are more readily promotive of indigestion than the indulgence of such emotions, and none presents a greater obstacle to the recovery of a consumptive patient than the habitual subjection of the mind to unhappy re- flections of whatsoever character. It is especially important for both patient and all who approach him to avoid, so far as possible, every disquieting in- fluence. t "Azotized air affects the lungs as the substitution of excrements for nourishing food would affect our digestive organs : corruption sets in ; pul- monary phthisis is, in fact, a process of putrefaction. " No ventilatory contrivance can compare with the simple plan of opening 48 THE NATURAL CURE OF an active, useful life, rest when tired, never eat with- out a good relish, nor, as a rule, when there is " gnaw- ing " at the stomach, nor when the body is exhausted with fatigue or the mind in a badly disturbed state. Eat but twice daily and of the simplest and purest food, i.e., the cereal grains, vegetables and fruits. a window ; in wet nights a ' rain-shutter ' (a blind with large, overlapping bars) will keep a room both airy and dry. In every bedroom, one of the upper windows should be kept open night and day, except in storms, accom- panied with rain or with a degree of cold exceeding io° Fahr. In warm summer nights open every window in the house and every door connecting the bedroom with the adjoining apartments. Create a thorough draught. Before we can hope to fight consumption with any chance of success, we have to get rid of the night-air superstition. Like the dread of cold water, raw fruit, etc., it is founded on that mistrust of our instincts which we owe to our anti-natural religion. It is probably the most prolific single cause of impaired health, even among the civilized nations of our enlightened age, though its absurdity rivals the grossest delusions of the witchcraft era. The subjection of holy reason to hearsays could hardly go further. u ■ Beware of the night-wind ; be sure and close your windows after dark ! ' In other words, beware of God's free air ; be sure and infect your lungs with the stagnant, azotized, and offensive atmosphere of your bedroom. In other words, beware of the rock spring ; stick to sewerage. Is night-air injurious ? Is there a single tenable pretext for such an idea ? Since the day of creation that air has been breathed with impunity by millions of different animals- tender, delicate creatures, some of them — fawns, lambs, and young birds. The moist night-air of the tropical forests is breathed with impunity by our next relatives, the anthropoid apes — the same apes that soon perish with con- sumption in the close though generally well-warmed atmosphere of our northern menageries. Thousands of soldiers, hunters, and lumbermen sleep every night in tents and open sheds without the least injurious consequences; men in the last stage of consumption have recovered by adopting a semi- savage mode of life, and camping out-doors in all but the stormiest nights. Is it the draught you fear, or the contrast of temperature ? Blacksmiths and railroad-conductors seem to thrive under such influences. Draught ? Have you never seen boys skating in the teeth of a snow-storm at the rate of fifteen miles an hour ? * They counteract the effects of the cold air by vig- orous exercise. ' Is there no other way of keeping warm ? Does the north wind damage the fine lady sitting motionless in her sleigh, or the pilot and CONSUMPTION. 49 Ordinarily, a little animal food — unaccompanied by greasy or stimulating condiments — will not affect a robust person seriously; but it is not essential to health, speaking generally, and in depraved condi- tions of the system it may be set down as detri- mental ; although lean beef or mutton, plainly cooked, and served without " seasoning," is doubtless prefera- able to bolted flour or impoverished vegetables, whose dissipated salts are mistakenly supposed to be " re- stored " in the form of artificial salt (see " Saline Starvation.") helmsman of a storm-tossed vessel ? It can not be the inclemency of the open air, for, even in sweltering summer nights, the sweet south wind, blessed by all creatures that draw the breath of life, brings no relief to the victim of aerophobia. There is no doubt that families who have freed themselves from the curse of that superstition can live out and out healthier in the heart of a great city than its slaves on the airiest highland of the southern Apennines." — ("Physical Education.") CHAPTER III. CONSUMPTION — {Continued). The country boor says he must have meat to make muscle ; and all the while his vegetarian team is twitching him and his plow along the furrow. Where does he suppose they get their muscles ? — Thoreau. Stupidly ignorant, or unmindful, of the fact that there are, in this country and Europe, hundreds of thousands of people of all ages, sexes and social positions, who live year in and year out mainly, and a large proportion strictly, on the vegetarian diet, and live in health, not only, but found perfect health by abandoning the common mixed diet and coming nearer to first principles — notwithstanding all this, still the farce goes on among the scientists of " proving " by chemical analyses, pretty theories and specious arguments, that man " can not subsist in health on a vegetarian diet." * " The matter is this : in a .cold climate we can not thrive without a modicum of fat, but that fat need not come from slaughtered animals. In a colder country than England, the East-Russian peasant, re- markable for his robust health and longevity, subsists * Jules Virey estimates that four-tenths of the human race subsist exclu- sively on a vegetable diet, and that seven-tenths are practically (though not on principle) vegetarians. Virchow estimates the total number at eighty-five per cent. — Oswald. (50) CONS UMP TION. 5 1 on cabbage-soup, rye-bread, and vegetable oils. In a colder country than England, the Gothenburg shep- herds live chiefly on milk, barley bread, and esculent roots. The strongest men of the three manliest races of the present world are non-carnivorous : the Tura- nian mountaineers of Daghestan and Lesghia, the Mandingo tribes of Senegambia, and the Schleswig- Holstein Bauern, who furnish the heaviest cuirassiers for the Prussian army and the ablest seamen for the Hamburg navy. Nor is it true that flesh is an indis- pensable, or even the best, brain-food. Pythagoras, Plato, Seneca, Paracelsus, Spinoza, Peter Bayle, and Shelley were vegetarians ; so were Franklin and Lord Byron in their best years. Newton, while engaged in writing his 'Principia' and ' Quadrature of Curves/ abstained entirely from animal food, which he had found by experience to be unpropitious to severe mental application. The ablest modern physiologists incline to the same opinion. ' I use animal food be- cause I have not the opportunity to choose my diet/ says Professor Welch, of Yale ; ' but, whenever I have abstained from it, I have found my health men- tally, morally, and physically better.' " — (" Physical Education.") With regard to the muscular vigor of vegetarians : if they have not become noted as "winners of rowing, walking, or boxing matches/' it is chiefly because they are rarely sporting men ; besides, they are as yet in this country — although their numbers are quite rap- idly increasing — in a very small minority ; but, of late, since this objection has been so frequently raised, vegetarians have entered the lists, notably in England, 52 THE NATURAL CURE OF in bicycle races, and have distanced their meat-eating rivals in long races, showing greater staying- powers. Says the London Lancet : " In the summer of 1872, it became necessary to shift the rails on upwards of 500 miles of permanent way on the Great Western line, from the broad to the narrow gauge, and there was only a fortnight to do it in. The work to be got through was enormous. About 3,000 men were em- ployed, and they worked double time, sometimes from four in the morning till nine at night. Not a soul was sick, sorry, or drunk, and the work was accom- plished on time. What was the extraordinary support of this wonderful spurt of muscular strength and energy ? Weak oatmeal gruel. There was no beer, spirits, or alcoholic drink in any form. Here/' con- tinues the Lancet , " is a very old and well-known agent, cheap enough, and easily procured, capable of im- parting ' staying power ' better, probably, than any- thing else, which is not employed to anything like the extent it might be with advantage." The principal part of the ration allowed in the above case was one and one-half pounds of oatmeal. In view of the immense labor performed by these men on that quantity of this cereal, can it be won- dered at that the sedentary dyspeptic who essays to " diet " on three full meals of such food comes to grief? For him a single moderate meal of grain food, with fruit, would be a generous ration. To very many the term u vegetarian v seems almost to imply one who is restricted to a diet of turnips and water. But Epicurus, the god of gluttons, was him- CONS UMP TION. 5 3 self a vegetarian, for while he regarded pleasure as the summuvn bonum y and placed the pleasures of the table first, still, he knew that a simple fare was most con- ducive to health and comfort in this life. As to va- riety: "with five kinds of cereals, three legumina, eight species of esculent roots, ten or twelve nutritive herbs, thirty to forty varieties of tree fruits, besides berries and nuts, a vegetarian might emulate the Due de Polignac, who refused to eat the same dish more than once per season. " In view of the constant violations of natural law as to quality, quantity and frequency of meals, I would say that it is from the nature of the case im- possible for people living in the prevailing manner to avoid digestive disorders;* in practice I find none al- * M I think I shall not be far wrong- if I say that there are few subjects more important to the well-being of man than the selection and preparation of his food. Our forefathers in their wisdom have provided, by ample and gener- ously endowed organizations, for the dissemination of moral precepts in re- lation to human conduct, and for the constant supply of sustenance to meet the cravings of religious emotions common to all sorts and conditions of men. In these provisions no student of human nature can fail to recognize the spirit of wisdom and a lofty purpose. But it is not a sign of ancestral wisdom that so little thought has been bestowed on the teaching- of what we should eat and drink ; that the relations, not only between food and a healthy population, but between food and virtue, between the process of digestion and the state of mind which results from it, have occupied a sub- ordinate place in the practical arrangements of life. No doubt there has long been some practical acknowledgment, on the part of a few educated persons, of the simple fact that a man's temper, and consequently many ot his actions, depends on such an alternative as whether he habitually digests his food well or ill ; whether the meals which he eats are properly converted into healthy material, suitable for the ceaseless work of building up both muscle and brain ; or whether unhealthy products constantly pollute the course of nutritive supply. But the truth of that fact has never been gen- erally admitted to an extent at all comparable with its exceeding importance. 54 THE NATURAL CURE OF together exempt from them, except the very small class of abstemious vegetarians referred to — an in- dividual or a family, or two, in each community — all others are more or less dyspeptic, and dyspepsia is incipient consumption. Thousands of dyspeptics . are oblivious as to the true nature of their disorder, simply because the most marked symptoms in their It produces no practical result on the habits of men in the least degree com- mensurate with the pregnant import it contains. For it is certain that an adequate recognition of the value of proper food to the individual in main- taining a high standard of health, in prolonging healthy life (the prolonga- tion of unhealthy life being small gain either to the individual or to the com- munity), and thus largely promoting cheerful temper, prevalent good-nature, and improved moral tone, would require almost a revolution in the habits of a large part of the community. " The general outlines of a man's mental character and physical tenden- cies are doubtless largely determined by the impress of race and family. That is, the scheme of the building, its characteristics and dimensions, are inherited ; but to a very large extent the materials and filling in of the framework depend upon his food and training. By the latter term may be understood all that relates to mental and moral and even to physical educa- tion, in part already assumed to be fairly provided for, and therefore not further to be considered here. No matter, then, how consummate the scheme of the architect, nor how vast the design, more or less of failure to rear the edifice results when the materials are ill chosen or wholly unworthy to be used. Many other sources of failure there may be which it is no part of my business to note ; but the influence of food is not only itself cardinal in rank, but, by priority of action, gives rise to other and secondary agencies, 11 The slightest sketch of the commonest types of human life will suffice to illustrate this truth. "To commence, I fear it must be admitted that the majority of infants are reared on imperfect milk by weak or ill-fed mothers. And thus it fol- lows that the signs of disease, of feeble vitality, or of fretful disposition, may be observed at a very early age, and are apparent in symptoms of in- digestion or in the cravings of want manifested by the ■ peevish ' and sleep- less infant. In circumstances where there is no want of abundant nutriment, over-feeding or complicated forms of food, suitable only for older persons, produce for this infant troubles which are no less grave than those of th* CONSUMPTION. 35 cases, 'now, are affections of the throat and lungs. The popular ignorance in this direction amply ac- counts for the appalling fact that respiratory diseases destroy the lives of about one-third, and consump- tion alone one-fifth of all who die in this country. When dyspepsia has blossomed into consumption, unless the primary disease — that of the stomach and former. In the next stage of life, among the poor the child takes his place at the parents' table, where lack of means, as well as of knowledge, deprives him of food more suitable than the rough fare of the adult On the whole, perhaps he is not much worse off than the child of the well-to-do, who becomes a pet, and is already familiarized with complex and too solid forms of food and stimulating drinks which custom and self-indulgence have placed on the daily table. And soon afterward commence in consequence — and entirely in consequence, a fact it is impossible too much to emphasize — the 'sick-headaches' and 'bilious attacks,' which pursue their victim through half a lifetime, to be exchanged for gout or worse at or before the grand climacteric. And so common are these evils that they are regarded by peo- ple in general as a necessary appanage of ' poor humanity.' No notion can be more erroneous, since it is absolutely true that the complaints referred to are self-engendered, form no necessary part of our physical nature, and for their existence are dependent almost entirely on our habits in relation to food and drink. I except, of course, those cases in which hereditary tendencies are so strong as to produce these evils, despite some care on the part of the unfortunate victim of an ancestor's self-indulgence. Equally, however, on the part of that little-to-be-revered progenitor was ill-chosen food, or more probably excess in quantity, the cause of disease, and not the physical nature of man. " The next stage of boyhood transfers the child just spoken of to a public school, where too often inappropriate diet, at the most critical period of growth, has to be supplemented from other sources. It is almost unneces- sary to say that chief among these are the pastry-cook and the vender of portable provisions, for much of which latter that skin-stuffed compound of unknown origin, an uncertified sausage, may be accepted as the type. "After this period arise the temptations to drink, among the youth of all classes, whether o.t beer-house, tavern, or club. For it is often taught in the bosom of the family, by the father's example and by the mother's pre- cept, that wine, beer, and spirits are useful, nay, necessary to health, and 56 THE NATURAL CURE OF intestines — is removed — an impossibility except by a radical change from the evil dietetic habits that have caused it — nature is powerless to heal the lungs, be- cause (i) the inflammation is being perpetually propa- gated, and (2) the entire nutritive system is becoming more and more hopelessly diseased. The stomach, more especially after long years of that they augment the strength. And the lessons thus inculcated and too well learned were but steps which led to wider experience in the pursuit of health and strength by larger use of the same means. Under such circum- stances it often happens, as the youth grows up, that a flagging appetite or a failing digestion habitually demands a dram before or between meals, and that these are regarded rather as occasions to indulge in variety of liquor than as repasts for nourishing the body. It is not surprising, with such training, that the true object of both eating and drinking is entirely lost sight of. The gratification of acquired tastes usurps the function of that zest which healthy appetite produces ; and.the intention that food should be adapted to the physical needs of the body and the healthy action of the mind is forgotten altogether. So it often comes to pass that at middle age, when man finds himself in the full current of life's occupations, struggling for pre-eminence with his fellows, indigestion has become persistent in some of its numerous forms, shortens his 'staying power,' or spoils his judgment or temper. And, besides all this, few causes are more potent than an in- competent stomach to engender habits of selfishness and egotism. A con- stant care to provide little personal wants of various kinds, thus rendered necessary, cultivates these sentiments, and they influence the man's whole character in consequence." " But it is necessary to say at this point, and I desire to say it emphati- cally, that the subject of food need not, even with the views just enunciated, be treated in an ascetic spirit. It is to be considered in relation to a prin- ciple, in which we may certainly believe, that aliments most adapted to de- velop the individual, sound in body and mind, shall not only be most accept- able but that they may be selected and prepared so as to afford scope for the exercise of a refined taste, and produce a fair degree of that pleasure nat- urally associated with the function of the palate, and derived from a study of the table. For it is certain that nine-tenths of the gormandism which is practiced — for the most part a matter of faith without knowledge — is no more a source of gratification to the eater's gustatory sense than it is of di- gestible sustenance to his body." — "Food and Feeding," by Sir Henry Thompson. CONSUMPTION. 57 abusive treatment, is one of the least sensitive organs. "If it had nerves as sensitive as our finger-tips, our attention would be so much taken up with the ordi- nary digestion of food that we could not properly attend to our work or studies." At first, in in- fancy, it is mote sensitive, and any excess of food is thrown off, but ere many months the disorder grows worse and deeper-seated, and in the course of years stomachs become so diseased as to give no sign, ex- cept when unusually outraged. It may have sores without knowing it. Dr. Beaumont saw sores in St. Martin's stomach after the latter had drunk liquor, but they occasioned no pain. "Cold sores," chapped lips, parched or pimpled tongue or mouth, furred tongue, etc., etc., a're but signs of serious disease of the stomach and intestines, and, consequently, of the entire organism. I have classed as one of the most natural and effec- tive measures for the preservation of health or the cure of disease, rest; for diseased organs, rest * and light tasks; for the healthy person who desires to keep well, I have said, "rest when tired." Un- fortunately many people, and more especially con- sumptives, never know when they are tired, but work habitually, until they are exhausted. With the lat- ter, this is usually set down to willfulness or lack of judgment. " She won't listen to reason," says the anxious husband. " She is always overdoing," says another. Jockeys, describing horses thus affected. * The various excretory organs, as the bowels, kidneys, liver, as well a digestive apparatus, are relieved by fasting, or diminishing the food rat 58 THE NATURAL CURE OF call them " pullers ": it is the same disease — indiges- tion. Reason being dethroned by the poisoned cir- culation in the brain, Nature, through muscular action, essays to excrete the toxic elements. This is stimu- lation (see " Coffee. ") It is the stimulus imparted by the thrice daily ingestion of so many unnatural and indigestible articles that compose the mixed diet, which pre- vents so many from resting when they are tired. With others, however, the effect is quite the reverse : some are always complaining of a " tired feeling. " There is a genuine lack of vital force occasioned by lack of nourishment. When this feeling is experi- enced on rising, it is usually, almost invariably, at least in part, the effect of close sleeping-rooms. Many persons, — some who are fat, and called healthy, others, perhaps, lean, — are called "lazy" who are positively weak, too weak to work without great effort such as lookers-on know nothing about, although most people may have had similar feelings occasion- ally — the " after-dinner laziness." This special form of disease has*previously been spoken of. (See p. 34). Nutrition is the grand factor in the prevention or cure of disease. It may be said, truly enough, that the blood-aerating capacity remains throughout equal, often superior, to the \A000\-making capacity ; and consumption may be appropriately described as dys- peptic starvation. (See " Saline Starvation/') In those instances where the capital stock (of vitality) is exhausted the victims of this disease must die ; but thousands of cases pronounced after a long course CONS UMP TION. 5 9 of medication and stimulation, hopeless, have been restored by a simple diet and an out-door life. Even hygienic institutes have failed to apply this principle in its entirety when brought face to face with cases that demanded " heroic treatment;" influenced in some measure, possibly, by the popular distrust of their methods, especially the deep prejudice against a restricted diet — now, however, rapidly disappearing — ■ they have hitherto erred continually on the side of excess. Nevertheless, they restore to health, or greatly benefit, ninety per cent, of the broken down invalids who come to them, usually, as ajast resort. I desire here to note particularly the change now going on in the minds of the most eminent and prac- tical physicians in this and European countries, con- cerning the use of beef-tea. It is found by chemical analysis to be almost identical with " chamber-lye" — the favorite prescription of our grandmothers — and although more agreeable to the taste than urine, even when the latter is drowned in treacle, it is, in my opinion, always injurious, especially in sickness, when, of course, the excretory system is already taxed to the utmost. Most people, even in health, have more than they can well do to excrete their own, once, without swallowing any portion of the waste of ani- mals ! Says Dr. Brunton : " We find only too frequently that both doctors and patients think that the strength is sure to be kept up if a sufficient quantity of beef-tea can only be got down ; but I think it a question whether beef- 60 THE NATURAL CURE OF tea may not very frequently (?) be actually injurious, and whether the products of muscular waste which constitute the chief portion of beef-tea, beef-essence, or even the beef itself, may not, under certain circum- stances, be actually poisonous." " In many cases of nervous depression we find a feeling of weakness and prostration coming on during digestion, and becoming so very marked about the second hour after a meal has been taken, and at the very time when absorption is going on, that we can hardly do otherwise than ascribe it to actual poison- ing by digestive products absorbed into the circula- tion. From the observation of a number of cases, I came to the conclusion that the languor and faintness of which many patients complained, and which oc- curred about eleven and four o'clock, was due to actual poisoning by the products of digestion of breakfast and lunch ; but at the time when I arrived at this conclusion I had no experimental data to show that the products of digestion were actually poisonous in themselves ; and only within the last few months have I seen the conclusions to which I had arrived by clinical observation, confirmed by experiments made in the laboratory. Such experiments have been made by Professor Albertoni, of Genoa, and by Dr. Schmidt-Muhlheim, in Professor Ludwig's labo- ratory at Leipsic." " Professor Albertoni and Dr. Schmidt-Muhlheim independently made the discovery that peptones prevented the coagulation of the blood in dogs, and the latter, under Ludwig's direction, has also investi- CONS UMP TION. 6 1 gated their action upon the circulation. He finds that, when injected into a vein, they greatly depress the circulation, so that the blood-pressure falls very considerably ; and when the quantity injected is.large, they produce a soporose condition, complete arrest of the secretion by the kidneys,* convulsions, and death. From these experiments it is evident that the normal products of digestion are poisons of no inconsiderable power, and that if they reach the gen- eral circulation in large quantities they may produce very alarming, if not dangerous symptoms." " Instead of trying to keep up the strength, as it is termed, by loading the stomach with food, the ex- hausted brain-worker should rather lean toward absti- nence from food, and especially toward abstinence from alcoholic liquors.f The feeling of muscular weakness and lassitude, which I have already had occasion to mention as frequently coming on about two hours after meals, is not uncommonly met with in persons belonging to the upper classes who are well fed and have little exercise. It is perhaps seen in its most marked form in young women or girls who have left school, and who, having no definite occupation in life, are indisposed to any exercise, either bodily or mental. I am led to look upon this condition as one of poisoning, both on account of the time of its occurrence, during the absorption of digestive products, and by reason of the peculiar symptoms — viz., a curious weight in the legs and * See u Blight's Disease." \ See chapter on Coffee. 62 THE NATURAL CURE OF arms, the patient describing them as feeling like lumps of lead. These symptoms so much resemble the effect which would be produced by a poison like curare, that one could hardly help attributing them to the action of a depressant or paralyzer of motor nerves or centers. The recent researches of Ludwig and Schmidt-Miihlheim render it exceedingly prob- able that peptones are the poisonous agents in these cases ; and an observation which I have made seems to confirm this conclusion, for I found that the weak- ness and languor were less after meals consisting of farinaceous food only. My observations, however, are not sufficiently extensive to absolutely convince me that they are entirely absent after meals of this sort, so that possibly the poisoning by peptones, although one cause of the languor, is not to be looked upon as the only cause."* I am able to vouch for a number of cases of con- sumption, and marasmus, in which, under tonic treat- ment and frequent meals, the patients were steadily declining, but which yielded, finally, to the influence of the one-meal-a-day system : comparative rest of the diseased alimentary organs, and consequent im- provement in the digestive and assimilative functions proved the needed "stimulant." The Boston Journal of Chemistry, of February, 1882, gives the history of a well authenticated case, of an old man of JO years, who had been declining with pulmonary consumption for three years, and who was pro- *" Indigestion as a Cause of Nervous Depression." By T. Lauder Brunton, M.D., F.R.S., in Practitioner. CONS VMP TION. 63 nounced incurable, who was made convalescent by a voluntary and absolute fast of 43 days — taking water freely, however, during the time — and, following this with the " bread and fruit " diet, was restored to health. Let us contrast this method of restoring the nutri- tive organs with that of " curing " them by medica- tion : , J. Milner Fothergill, M.D., truly says (in the Prac- titioner), that " it is more important to study the tongue than to go over the chest with a stethoscope, and that attention to the stomach and bowels is just as essential as the treatment of night sweats. When the tongue is covered with thick fur it is nearly or quite useless to give iron or cod-liver oil ; for the tongue is the indicator of the state of the intestinal canal, and absorption through the thick layer of dead epithelial cells is impossible/' And then Dr. Fother- gill gives us his method of rasping off the coating, so to say, with " a compound calomel and colocynthe pill every second night, and a mixture of nitro-hydrochlo- ric or phosphoric acid, with infusion of cinchona three times a day until the tongue clears." I would suggest that nitro-glycerine would act more speedily and reduce the suffering to a minimum ! The point, however, to dwell upon, — and it is one worthy of the deepest con- sideration, — is that the state of the alimentary canal, so aptly described by the authority quoted, and which forbids the absorption of iron and oil, also prohibits the absorption of wholesome substances. Not only this; the secretion of the digestive fluids (even sup- 64 THE NA TURAL CURE OF posing for the moment that these fluids are present in normal amount and quality in the circulation, which is, of course, far from the truth in this as in most dis- orders) is in great degree prevented by this same physical obstruction, the " thick layer of dead epithe- lial cells ;" and, moreover, the secretion of fecal mat- ters by the glands of the colon is, in like manner and degree, prevented. (See chapter on " Constipation.") What have we, then, in summing up, as the effecjt of this conservative effort of nature to " iron-sheathe and copper-fasten " this most abused alimentary tract, if I may thus characterize the coat which has resulted from the maltreatment of the digestive organs, and but for which the individual would, we may reason- ably suppose, have died long ago from some plethoric disease ? First : the digestive fluids, being scant and scantily secreted, it results that (2) only a small quan- tity at best, of the most wholesome food, can be by them digested, and (3) absorption from the small in- testines is equally difficult, even supposing that the appropriate " small quantity " of food possible to be digested has not been exceeded, which, in ordinary practice, is anything but a supposable case. Excess is the invariable rule, and therefore (4) the undigested and fermenting food substances, excepting a portion which is absorbed in this poisonous condition, make their sluggish course along the intestines, collect in great masses in the lower bowel, and, finally, (a) either by aid of purgative medicines, or theordinary stimulat- ing drinks indulged in, (b) the irritating effects of these abnormal accumulations themselves, or (c) by means of CONS UMP TION. 6 5 injections, the lower bowel is more or less frequently emptied. These extraordinary evacuations are often described by the patient or friends as " exhausting.'' That such excreta is not composed of true fecal mat- ters, we may reasonably conclude from the fact that (i) digestion and assimilation are but poorly per- formed, and but a very small proportion, therefore, of the quantity swallowed (often enough consumptives continue large eaters, gauged by any standard, and, relatively speaking, this is invariably the rule with them) — but a small proportion, I repeat, is absorbed into the circulation, and, therefore, undigested food must form the chief share of the so-called fecal mat- ters, and (2) owing to the heavy fur-coat, lining the colon, the secretion of waste matters from the blood is, as just stated, well nigh prohibited. Hence it results that under the ordinary treatment the consumptive patient is hurried out of the world by a relative, and, often enough, by an actual, exag- *geration of the very practices which originated his disorder. Referring once more to Dr. Fothergill's, which is, to be sure, the regular drug plan : having scoured off the fur, so to say, with drastic purgatives, which have, possibly, cut a little too deep ; or when, from whatever cause, instead of the furred coat, " the tongue is raw, bare, and denuded of epithelium, the patient should," he says, " take a mixture of bismuth with an alkali and use a milk diet. Seltzer water and milk will often agree when the milk alone is found to be too heavy and constipating. " Hero we have a case analogous to that of the robust gourmand 66 THE NATURAL CURE OF whose dinner of a dozen courses is carried on and out by the aid of his " dinner pill," or the free use of filthy mineral waters: A cup or two of cow's milk (which, at best, is only a natural aliment for the calf, and which is too often drawn from a creature herself suffering from tuberculosis), is, to the depraved con- sumptive, even more " heavy and constipating " than the grossest diet indulged in ordinarily, to supposably healthy Christians, not to speak of such occasions as church festivals or society "breakfasts." One secret of the difficulty which besets the hygienist in his efforts to prevail upon a consumptive patient to per- sist in a course of " natural medication/' after having once fairly entered upon it, lies in this : There is nat- urally a letting down, at first, from the stimulated condition, and this is often discouraging ; the craving for the customary stimulants is almost as unappeas- able as that of the rum-dyspeptic ; and what makes the matter worse with the consumptive than with the drunkard, everybody who approaches the former seeks to tempt the appetite : or, in any event, the sight, smell, and hearing of the " good things " renders abstinence from such most difficult ; and then, again, after leaving off many objectionable articles of food and drink, and having abstained from them for a few months, we will say, the transient resumption, always imminent, of the use of forbidden fruit operates with renewed force, and the patient finds himself, as he thinks, " gaining a little," and he is thus encouraged to fall back, more or less gradually, into all his old practices. Coffee, for example, — which originally proved constipating, after CONS UMP TION 67 its first (laxative) effects ceased, — having been ab- stained from for some months, is now found to " agree " with and even " help" the patient, who, be- ginning with a single small cup at breakfast, works up finally to two at each meal .; and, altogether, things go on swimmingly for a time. Again, after a period of abstinence from flesh-food, pastry, spices, etc. — to guard against which nature has put the fur-coat upon the intestines, or, perhaps, it should be said that the wear and tear occasioned by all unwholesome articles introduced into the stomach, have produced an effect somewhat analogous to the thickened cuticle result ing from the constant chafing of an ill-fitting shoe, for example, — as the intestinal tract begins to acquire something of its normal condition, there is a point when the resumption of a "generous" diet, in which the aforesaid substances figure largely, will seem to give the patient a fresh impulse healthward : they once more, perhaps, produce the laxative effects simu- lating that most desirable state of the bowels called " regular." And so on to the end of the chapter, the patient, friends, and perhaps the medical adviser, are misled as to the real state of affairs, until, finally, the end approaches, and the patient who was " improving so nicely" grows worse, and, after a period of intense suffering, which weans him from all desire to live, and reconciles his friends to the change, dies. " He catched cold, it settled on his lungs, and in his weak state " — etc., etc. Speaking in round terms, the consumptive's diges- tive ability is about on a par, usually, indeed, interior 68 THE NA TURAL CURE OF to his muscular powers ; and it is as irrational to ex- pect him to digest and assimilate several meals a day, as to expect him to saw several cords of wood in the same length of time. Both are alike impossible. The fact that the food disappears, or that there is a craving for it, even, or, again, that it " seems to agree with the stomach," does not change the case. A little food of the simplest sort may be assimilated, a little muscular exercise may be taken, and both prove curative. In common practice, however, the alimentary system is taxed to its own exhaustion and the impairment of the entire organism, while the voluntary muscular system deteriorates by reason of non-use as well as from the general lack of nutrition. A very grave error, however, is sometimes made — of taking too much exercise ; that is, of beginning the change too abruptly. Whatever the state of one's general health, he can only do with advantage about what he has habitually done. If he has all along lived a very active life and is in his usual health, he can take a good deal of exercise without harm, even with advantage ; if, on the other hand, his life is sedentary, but little can be taken — beyond the current amount — without doing more harm than good. In either case, however, there may be a gradual increase of muscular exercise, and for many of the latter class this would prove life conserving, (if persisted in as a habit of life), but spasmodic efforts at building up a muscular system will always fail ; nature does nothing in that fashion. The rule should be to exercise a little short of fatigue, and it CONS UMP TION. 69 should be increased little by little each day, " until the labor of working accommodates itself to easy habits/' This rule would leave for some consump- tive patients, at first, only the passive exercise of having their muscles pressed by their attendant's hand, or a gentle walk for a short distance, and so on. *' Combinedwith a hectic flush of the face, night- sweats, or general emaciation, shortness of breath leaves no doubt that the person thus affected is in the first stage of pulmonary consumption. If the patient were my son, I should remove the windows of his bedroom, and make him pass his days in the open air — as a cow-boy or berry-gatherer, if he could do no better. In case the disease had reached its deli- quium period, the stage of violent bowel-complaints, dropsical swellings, and utter prostration,* it would be better to let the sufferer die in peace; but, as long as he were able to digest a frugal meal and walk two miles on level ground, I should begin the outdoor cure at any time of the year, and stake my own life on the result. I should provide him with clothing enough to defy the vicissitudes of the seasons, and keep him outdoors in all kinds of weather — walking, riding, or sitting ; he would be safe : the fresh air would pre- vent the progress of the disease. But improve he could not without exercise. Increased exercise is the price of increased vigor. Running and walking stool the leg-sinews. In order to strengthen his wrist-joints a man must handle heavy weights. Almost any * The fasting consumptive referred to on page 62 had already approached this condition. — Author. 70 THE NATURAL CURE OF bodily^exercise — but especially swinging, wood-chop- ping, carrying weights, and walking up-hill — increases the action of the lungs, and thus gradually their func- tional vigor. Gymnastics that expand the chest facil- itate the action of the respiratory organs, and have the collateral advantage of strengthening the sinews, and invigorating the system in general, by accelerat- ing every function of the vital process. The expo- nents of the movement-cure give a long list of ath- letic evolutions, warranted to widen out the chest as infallibly as French-horn practice expands the cheeks. But the trouble with such machine-exercises is that they are almost sure to be discontinued as soon as they have relieved a momentary distress, and, as Dr. Pitcher remarks in his ' Memoirs of the Osage In- dians,' the symptoms of consumption (caused by smoking and confinement in winter quarters) disap- pear during their annual buffalo-hunt, but reappear upon their return to the indolent life of the wigwam. The problem is to make outdoor exercise pleasant enough to be permanently preferable to the far niente whose sweets seem especially tempting to consump- tives. This purpose accomplished, the steady prog- ress of convalescence is generally insured, for the differences of climate, latitude, and altitude, of age and previous habits, almost disappear before the ad- vantages of an habitual outdoor life over the healthiest indoor occupations." — (" Physical Education.") I would not be understood, by any means, as ad vising every consumptive patient, or every one who supposes himself to be suffering from this disease, to CONS UMP TION. 7 1 immediately and without advice stop eating; but this much I do say: in all cases of progressive emaciation, that is to say, where the organs of di- gestion and assimilation have become so impaired that the body is not nourished, but is steadily de- clining, the attending physician should consider the question of temporary rest for the alimentary organs, so far as the ingestion of food is concerned. The presence even of a craving appetite should be treated as a morbid symptom, and should weigh in favor of abstinence. It should also be borne in mind that the earlier this remedy is applied the smaller will be the " dose " indicated, and the more speedy and com- plete the relief. Had Mr. Connolly, for example — whose cure by fasting I have already alluded to — at any time during his first few months of " pressure at the lungs, with cough and expectoration, " fasted for a week or ten days,"* perhaps, under the care of a physician sufficiently intelligent to judge of his needs in this direction, and had he thereafter lived on the plain diet which he now finds so com- plete, he would in all probability have escaped the illness which followed, and would have enjoyed uninterrupted health to the present day. Again, if he had changed his manner of living five years earlier — from three " mixed " meals f of stimulating * It is evident that such a fast, then^ would have proved, so far as the danger of starvation is concerned, a mere bagatelle, since three years Liter, as we have seen, — years of decline and emaciation, — he endured, and, with advantage, a fast of over six weeks. t A return to his old diet now would probably make short work of this subject, and should I hear of his early death, my first inquiry would relate to this point. 72 THE NATURAL CURE OF food, as flesh and the irritating condiments invari- ably associated with animal food; pastry, white flour, and stimulating drinks, as tea and coffee — to two meals composed of the cereals, vegetables and fruits, prepared in the simplest and plainest manner, there would have been no call for a fast. I have the means of knowing of over five thousand families in this country alone w r ho have made this change for preventive and curative purposes, and with the happiest results. I would say that any person who finds his appetite failing or fitful — sometimes poor, sometimes craving — and who has reason to fear the decline of his nutritive powers, will do well to make a radical change in his habits of living; and the sooner the better. The most pernicious custom of which I have any knowledge, yet one almost universal in the care of the sick, is that of " tempting the appetite," concocting fancy or especially toothsome dishes, when nature is saying in the plainest manner that feeding has already been overdone. Such prepara- tions are a severe tax upon even robust persons — they are fatal to consumptives. It is infinitely worse than bribing an exhausted laborer, who can scarcely move a muscle, to rouse himself to fresh tasks. He will do more and better work by reason of present and ab- solute rest ; and the same is true of the sick stom- ach : there will be a relish for the coarsest article of diet — aye, it will be delicious — and digestion will wait on appetite, when the nutritive organs shall have been restored by sufficient rest. The experi- ments of Tanner at New York, Griscomb at Chicago, CONS UMP TION. 7 3 and now of Terrence Connolly (the consumptive faster) at Newton, N. J., have, I believe, demon- strated the fact that, in health or in sickness, in all cases of abstinence from all food, saving only water and pure air, of whatever disease the subject may die, it will not be for want of food, so long as there remains any considerable amount of flesh* on his bones. By the light of these experiences we shall do well, too, to study more closely the functions of the lym- phatic system : human flesh, by absorption, consti- tutes a most appropriate diet in certain conditions of disease (see article on rheumatism). The absorption and excretion of diseased tissues is, under some cir- cumstances, the only work that nature can with safety undertake, and in these cases no building up can be accomplished until a solid foundation is reached and the debris removed ; and not then unless, while this good work is going on, the nutritive organs are given an opportunity to virtually renew themselves. Dr. Tanner, in his forty days* fast, lost about fifty pounds in weight. Mr. Griscomb lost a little more than that in his fast of forty-five days ; and although moving about, taking more exercise every day than many sedentary people, and attending to a large cor- respondence, etc., was still able to say to the audience assembled to see him break his fast : " Ladies and *The amount " consumed " in the case of Mr. Connolly from day to day. was very slight indeed, scarcely more than before he left off eating ; that is, it was observed that his emaciation was no more rapid during the fast tha- immediately prior thereto; before the fast his food was not being digested nor assimilated, and he was taking purgatives continually for torpid bowels. 74 THE NATURAL CURE OF gentlemen, you see now a man who has swallowed no food, except water, for forty-five days, and yet I can assure you that I am neither faint nor hungry; but I shall soon convince you that I have an excellent ap- petite/* and, so saying, he proceeded to partake of a very moderate dinner, and in moderate fashion. It is commonly supposed that these are uncommon men : they are uncommon only in possessing a knowl- edge as to the power of the living organism to with- stand abstinence from food, and in having the courage of their opinions. And yet, when discussing the ad- vantages of the two-meal system, uninformed people talk about " getting faint if they go so long " without nourishment ! They speak from the three-meal-fish- flesh-fowl and pickle standpoint ; accustomed to ap- plying a hot poultice to a gnawing, sick stomach every few hours, they do get faint if the time runs over a single hour. These various fasts, with the lessons to be drawn from them, must prove, finally, of inestimable value to science in the treatment of disease, where it may be desirable to rest all the viscera, or any portion thereof, concerned in digestion,* or to " close the bow- * An eminent Maine statesman has recently died, who might have recov- ered and lived for years, but for the mistaken theory that food is a daily need under all circumstances : To constantly feed an irritated stomach is like kicking a man when he is down. And yet this is being done with fatal effect constantly all over the world. In certain cases, and especially with aged patients, this system is as surely fatal as strychnine, if less speedy. There are many besides myself who believe that President Garfield died from fatty degeneration, chronic dyspepsia, and constant feeding during his illness, rather than from the effects of the bullet. True enough, he might have lived on for years in his disordered physical condition but for the CONSUMPTION., 75 els y for certain surgical operations, without resorting to injurious medication, and also — a very important consideration — in cases of enforced abstinence, as in time of famine or shipwreck, to prevent death from fright and discouragement, which have heretofore killed scores where actual starvation has one. As illustrating the influence of an out-door life, with partial or transient fasting, I will cite THE. CASE OF MR. VICKERS. Joseph Vickers, born and raised in England, but now of Biddeford, Me., whose home is near my own, and the man himself well known to me, was very "low with consumption " at one time, when in his twenty- second year. His disease was attributed, and without doubt justly, to a severe chill resulting from wading the river on one of his hunting bouts, and being com- pelled to dry his clothes on his back — a feat he had previously performed repeatedly, except that on this occasion, being very much fatigued, and night coming on, instead of continuing vigorous exer- cise while his clothes were drying, he "went into camp " and " shivered throughout the night in his soaked garments." Declining very rapidly, with every symptom of pulmonary consumption, his case wound ; still, on the other hand, it is equally probable that he might have lived, and that his sickness would have restored him to health even, but for the constant tampering with his stomach, which needed rest as much as the great and good man himself. No rest for the stomach, no rest for the man, is an axiom which I would submit to my brother practitioners, as one worthy of all acceptation. It is being constantly proved right before their own eves, and yet very few have learned the lesson it teaches. y6 THE. NATURAL CURE OF was considered hopeless by his friends. Medicine seeming to him useless, he gave up taking it, and his physician consequently gave him no encourage- ment or hope of recovery. His digestion was very imperfect — as he. put it, " Nothing I ate seemed to do me any good " — and to the disgust of his parents and friends he often refused to eat anything for an entire day. Able to be up and dressed a good portion of the time, he would spend as much of the day out- doors as possible, and at night " never slept without a window open in the bed-room." Gaining a little strength, and being " badgered," as he says, "all the time, when at home, about eating," and being very fond of hunting, and not sleeping well, he would rise very early, take his gun and, as he expressed it, would "crawl off to the woods," and sit or lie down until rested, and then " travel a bit and rest again," and so spend the entire day, taking no lunch, and eating noth- ing, drinking from a brook or a spring when thirsty, returning at night, often as late as seven or eight o'clock, when he would eat a little coarse food after resting, and then go to bed. " A couple of weeks " of this sort of life sufficed to bring him home at night with an " appetite for a side of sole-leather," and he would eat a hearty supper — always of the plainest food — and soon go to bed. From this point his re- covery was as rapid as his decline had been. His diet has always been of the plainest sort, mostly veg- etable (a large proportion of coarse bread and fruit), — " My drink is always cold water, and I let the rest of the family eat all the fancy stuff," he remarked. Mr. CONS UMP TION. y 7 Vickers, — who is a devout Christian man, and his story corroborated in every feature by others as relia- ble, — is now sixty-six years old, though he appears like a robust, well-preserved man of fifty. Excepting under very aggravated conditions, as for example, the case of Mr. Vickers, given above, rarely does any creature ever begin to have con- sumption with a sound stomach, liver, and intestines. Nor can the digestive organs become diseased, or- dinarily, so long as the diet and general regimen are even approximately correct. If we thought more of what would " tickle " the stomach and intestines than the palate, simply, we would banish most of our dis- orders ; pure air, active exercise, a clear conscience, and the cultivation of a spirit of cheerfulness, kindliness, and contentment, would send the balance a-flying. Upon the importance of cheerfulness, a recent writer, a physician with a large practice, and a man of keen perceptions, says : " One of the most important direc- tions of all is personal and subjective. Cultivate with the utmost force possible the habit of cheerfulness. No words can put this out with the strength and weight which I should be glad to give to it. Its value is utterly beyond estimation. The difference between meeting the common, or uncommon, trials of life with cheerfulness or with despondency, and perhaps com- plaint and grumbling, is often just the difference be- tween life and death." The appetite for "sweets" — candy, syrup, sugar, and fancy dishes deluged with sweet sauces — en- couraged to an abnormal degree from infancy, and 78 THE NA TURAL CURE OF the gratification of this appetite throughout life are prolific aids in establishing the phthisical diathesis. There is a natural appetite for sweet fruits and this demand may be safely met by such forms of food, but never by the unbalancing artificial sweets, or proxi- mate principles of food, as cane or beet sugar and the "bon-bons" formed from them. Victor Hugo, — that grand man who gave us u Les Miser ables" — in the first volume of the series, puts this bit of physiological wisdom into the mouth of the witty libertine, Tholomyes, w r ho uses it, to be sure, in a double sense, which I need not here explain : " Now, listen attentively ! " says this oracle of the " four." " Sugar is a salt. Every salt is desiccating. Sugar is the most desiccating of all salts. It sucks up the liq- uids from tfie blood through the veins; thence comes the coagulation, then the solidification of the blood ; thence the tubercles in the lungs ; thence death. And this is why diabetes borders on consumption." I commend the above thought to consumptives, and to the parents of fat children — the consumptives of the future. Every grain of artificial sugar swallowed, constitutes a tax upon the system — upon the lungs land kidneys, more particularly — a tax upon the indi- vidual's vitality. Among the prolific causes of consumption in after life, is that of the involuntary cramming and fatten- ing of infancy, followed up during childhood and youth by a somewhat less excessive gluttony, which is taught inferentially by the conversation and exam- ple of the elders, as by constantly dwelling upon the CONSUMPTION. 79 delights of the palate, arranging entertainments which are feasts of the body, rather than of the mind, in ad- vance of which all classes discuss with excess of inter- est the palatal pleasures of the coming " good time," and at which all unite, if not in gorging themselves, at least in feeding themselves for pleasure to the dis- regard of the true requirements of their bodies for nutriment. As a result of all this, sedentary persons become, like stall-fed oxen, degenerated with fat ; and this, as just remarked about children, is a predisposing cause of consumption. A very large proportion of con- sumptives, most of them, in fact, are first thus dis- eased ; and when any person is round and plump, or even fairly covered, so to say, and is yet lacking in muscular power — " easily tired " — it is prima facie evidence that the muscular system is degenerated in the manner described ; and if the muscles, then the vital organs within, also. Thus we observe that grossness is by no means essential to fatty degener- ation, although all obese persons are, of course, thus affected. The salary of a fireman (" coal heaver ") depends upon his intelligence in the matter of fuelling up his engine with a view to its " health," power and lon- gevity ; that of the cook or caterer, upon his ingenu- ity in devising means to accomplish the reverse of all this in the case of the human engine placed at his mercy. " A well-spread board" should be described as one at which the youngest child (whose teeth are cut) may 80 THE NATURAL CURE OF exercise his will without let or hindrance until, at the first indication of dallying, or " loafing/' over his food, it is evident that he has had enough ; and at which the consumptive may eat without being tempted to overindulge, but, paying heed to the first intimation of satiety, rise from the table with the assurance of having performed an agreeable duty, in that he has eaten in quantity and quality, what he can digest and assimilate. The consumptive starves, not for want of food, but for want of digestion and assimilation. It is impossible to emphasize this fact too strongly. The Scientific American of June 3, 1882, in an arti- cle entitled " Tubercle Parasite/' * considering Dr. * Microscopic examination reveals the presence of a multiplicity of fatty crystals throughout the . substance of the lungs of persons who have died of consumption. At a recent meeting of the New Orleans Pathological Society, its President, Dr. H. D. Schmidt, whose researches have been extended and minute, made an important microscopical demonstration to disprove Prof. Koch's so-called discovery as to the bacilli of tuberculosis. Prof. Schmidt claimed to demonstrate that the so-called bacilli, thought by Dr. Koch to be the cause of consumption, were simply fatty crystals. Connecting with this the fact that Prof. Koch really found certain minute living organisms which he propagated artificially for several generations, it becomes evident to my mind (i) that the "bacillus" is simply a natural scavenger enveloped in the diseased tissue — the fatty crystal, or the tubercle — and (2) that its office is really, under the circumstances, conservative to life. Nor is this conclusion disproved by the alleged fact that the inoculation with the bacilli, of suppos- ably healthy animals, produced the disorder : In the first place, the little do- mestic pets, such as were thus operated upon, are always, owing to their artificial surroundings, predisposed to the disease in question, frequently falling victims to it without the aid of inoculation, and (3) this being the case, their inoculation with a liberal reinforcement of greedy vermin, — or, supposing that, as yet, none were generated, their premature introduction, — would naturally tend to a speedy and fatal termination. It makes no differ- ence to a dead man whether his lungs were devoured by bacilli, or simply broken down from fatty degeneration ; but to the living, it is a matter of the utmost importance to learn the true condition of things in the premises. CONS UMP TION. 8 1 Koch's theory, says : " According to Dr. Salisbury, this disease (consumption) is one arising from ' con- tinued unhealthy alimentation, and must be treated by removing the cause. This cause is fermenting food and the products of this fermentation, viz. : alco- holic yeast and alcohol, vinegar yeast and acetic acid, carbonic acid gas, embolism, and interference with nutrition. Consumption of the bowels can be produced at any time in the human subject in from fifteen to thirty days, and consumption of the lungs inside of ninety days, by special, exclusive, and con- The idea of being eaten alive by myriads of little vermin from which there is supposably no escape, is enough to strike terror to the mind of a patient ; but let him know that his disease is of such a nature that (with the aid of the bacilli, perhaps,) a radical change in his manner of living affords great assurance for the hope of its entire eradication, and he has at once an all- sufficient motive for reform. Dr. J. Milner Fothergill, in a letter to the Philadelphia Medical Times, referring to Koch's theory of the origin of tuberculosis, remarks, half jocose- ly : " Talk of the bitterness of death ! It is nothing to the shadowy danger which overhangs us of a tubercle-bacillus getting into one's pulmonary alveoli in an unguarded moment, and when one's ' resistive power ' happens to be impaired. Shadowy in the sense of invisible, not unreal ! Is this what is meant by * the doom of a great city ' ? Is the bacillus a relative of the poison- germ which slew Sennacherib's host in a night ? We do not yet know the little creature intimately enough to say. But, really, the horrors which the mind conjures up of the dangers of the bacillus in the future are demoralizing. Suppose, now, that some change of the human constitution should favor the bacillus, just as the potato-field did the Colorado beetle, who had been hap- pily quiet in his dietary of the leaves of the deadly nightshade, but who went on the war-path when the leaves of the other members of the Solanacea? came within his reach. The imagination fails to conceive what may be the fate of man, — to be slain by a foe more remorseless than any of the plagues of Egypt. Suppose, now, that the bacillus took such a new departure, and cot ahead of our 'resistive power.' Why, man would be swept otf the face of the earth ! What an ignominious end, too ! Man, in the plenitude of his power over the forces of nature, slain by an insignificant little bacillus ! " 82 THE NA TURAL CURE OF tinued feeding upon the diet that produces them — that is, food containing starch and sugar in alcoholic and acetic acid fermentation/ " Dr. Salisbury had found this embryonic form of the vinegar yeast in the blood, sputa, and excretions of persons suffering with consumption. In the blood the plant forms masses by itself, grows inside the white corpuscles, causes the fibrin filaments of the blood to be larger in size and stronger, the red corpuscles to be ropy, sticky, adhesive, making small clots or " thrombi, " which become "emboli" or plugs, and block up the capillaries and blood-vessels. The growth of the vin- egar yeast in its embryonal stage, combined with the mechanical interference with nutrition, causes ab- normal growths in the substance of organs, called tubercle ; and the concurrent inflammatory results, in addition to the chemical action of the vinegar or acetic acid, causes the death and breaking down of the organs invaded — the lungs, for example. That this is not opinion only is shown by the fact that over 246 swine were, at his instance, destroyed by feeding on farinaceous food in a state of alcoholic and vinegar fermentation, the vinegar yeast traced in the blood, found in the excretions, and 104 of the dead swine were subjected to post-mortem examina- tions and their lungs found broken down and dis- eased as in ordinary consumption. The same experi- ment was tried on a number of men, " all healthy, and with no vegetations in the blood. They were given plenty of exercise in the open air," but within three months these men had consumption of the CONS UMP TION. 8 3 lungs. "Certainly," says the Scientific American, " we think the evidence submitted shows that Dr. Salisbury has come n.earer to the real intimate nature of consumption than Dr. Koch or any one we know. There is a simplicity, directness, breadth, and posi- tiveness rarely seen in the treatment of a medical subject. Indeed, it is doubtful if there have been experiments so conclusive and extensive before or since." It must be evident to even the crudest thinker that this fermenting process must ultimately produce the same effects when begun in the stomach, and described as indigestion ; and no more efficient means of initiating this process can be imagined than that of swallowing indigestible substances — the most wholesome food-substances may be prepared in such a manner as to render them indigestible — or eating in excess of the needs of the organism, and therefore of the capacity for digestion. Thousands upon thou- sands of so-called healthy people are in this way ap- proaching the point of decline, more or less slowly, but surely, utterly unconscious of their danger, simply because in their ignorance they can not recognize the premonitory symptoms, of which chronic constipation, for example, is one, and a very grave one. (See article on this subject.) After all, excess in diet is, usually, only another term for lack of fresh air and exercise, without which no one can become, or continue, robust. While it is true that to command health and muscular vigor one must be well fed, still no amount of food alone can make the right arm like that of a blacksmith. But 84 THE NA TURAL CURE OF we can make the muscles grow on ample exercise and ■ — food enough ; always, however, considering a con- stant supply of oxygen as an essential element in the ration. The muscular system wastes — with many is never even tolerably developed — the powers wane, because of sedentary habits. " Inaction contravenes the supreme design of the human constitution, and is therefore adverse to its health." — HUXLEY. The lungs begin to take on disease, often, because the in- dividual does nothing to make him breathe deep ; ex- ercise is not frequent and vigorous* enough to cause frequent deep inspirations ; the remote air-cells are in many instances seldom, and with corset -wearers never > inflated, and, consequently, the tendency is to grow together, so to say, or, rather, to fester and slough off, as useless appendages. To form the habit of taking long breaths in the open air, occasionally, throughout the day, would do much to maintain the integrity of lung-tissue, aerate the blood and prevent or cure consumption ; but, after all, Nature designs that creatures who inhabit this earth shall be " fit " for something besides drawing their own breath.f To be " fit to survive " one must be of use in the world ; hence there must be employment that taxes the mental, moral, and physical forces sufficiently to stimulate their growth and development. This, and nothing short of this, is health, in the complete sense * In a badly vitiated atmosphere inaction is the only palliative ; muscular exercise causes a demand for an increased supply of oxygen, and increases the amount of carbonic acid to be eliminated, neither of which conditions can be met except by means of pure air. t See note i in Appendix, p. 275. CONS UMP TION. 8 5 of the term. Robust health, if one would secure it, demands that one should be much in the open air and exposed, often, to a low temperature while taking a great deal of vigorous exercise. To be long-lived, on the other hand, requires rather that the diet be re- stricted to correspond with abstinence from labor and cold, some degree of exercise in the open air, however, being essential. The robust often wear out faster than the brain workers, whose lives are rather on the quiet order. Worry kills ten where work kills one. The best illustration of the natural means of pre- venting, or curing, consumption — in fact, of promot- ing and maintaining health, under any circumstances — I have ever seen, is given in the following true story of HOW A YOUNG GIRL CURED HERSELF. " Then you are surprised to learn that I came with- in six weeks of dying of consumption, thirty years ago, are you, doctor? " The questioner was a bright, healthy little woman of fifty who, in the course of a consultation abput a consumptive niece, had ex- pressed herself as having little hope of her recovery, u because she wouldn't do as I did when I had the disease — and she isn't nearly as sick as 1 was." Straight as an arrow, active and merry, looking more like forty than fifty, Mrs. E. was the last person that any one would select as belonging to a " consumptive family," or of having suffered with the disease, in her own person, and yet her mother died of it when this daughter was about 19, and the latter s decline was 86 THE NATURAL CURE OF attributed to inherited tendency and long confinement in the sick-room, during the last year of her mother's life. " Yes, I have told Lettie how I cured myself after the doctors gave me up, but she will not under- take it — not now, at least — perhaps she may when she gets where I was. Do you want me to give you my recipe for the cure of consumption, Doctor? Tell you the whole story? Well, the way is simple, and the story a short one, and if it will help any one I shall be very glad. I needn't tell you all about mother's case — hers was the old-fashioned consumption ; she was sick a good many years, but the last year she was almost helpless and would have no one but me to take care of her. Well, I bore up until she died, and then I gave out ; I could not go to the grave — I was in bed during the funeral. I had not realized — none of the family had — how poorly I had become ; but now it was plain enough. I kept my bed most of the time — could not get rested. I had been sick several weeks when my brother was brought home ill, was taken with typhoid fever, and there was no one to nurse him. I roused myself up and declared that I was able to do it ; and I carried the point, in spite of all father could say. Well, he was sick nine weeks, but I gave up before he recovered. I carried him through the worst of it, however, before I took my bed ; and then I was very sick indeed. For a while they thought I could live but a few weeks, but I rallied and got more comfortable. I raised a great deal, and for several months remained about the same, apparently ; but the autumn came, and when we be- CONSUMPTION. 87 gan to shut the house up I seemed to grow worse ; my cough was still very bad, but I couldn't i raise ' much, and I suffered, terribly for breath. The doctor who had been attending me — the one who had tended mother — at last said he could do no more for me, and for some months we had no physician, and then father called a new one— a young doctor who was fit- ting himself for practice in our village. He came to see me, examined my lungs, and I fainted away in the effort. He went out — leaving no medicine— and had a talk with father. He said that he did not care to take the case ; that there was no hope for me ; my lungs were badly ulcerated, and I had but few weeks to live. L She can't live over six weeks,* Mr. B., and she may die any day. I am young, just commencing practice, and it will injure me to have her die on my hands : and I can not help her/ * At least/ said father, 'give her something to relieve her suffering/ They did not know that I could hear them ; but spring-time had come again, the day was quite warm, and I had asked to have the window raised at the head of my * It is, of course, idle to speculate as to whether Miss B. was within six weeks, or six months, of a fatal termination of her disease, under the usual treatment. Her physician expressed his honest opinion, certainly ; though had he been catechised closely, he would doubtless have modified it some- what, as, by saying that while she was liable to be taken off at any time, still, she might linger along several months, or until severe cold weather in winter, the season usually so fatal to this class of patients, — not because it is impossible, or even difficult, to keep the sick-room at any desired tempera- ture, but because this end is sought to be accomplished, largely, by shutting out " the breath of life," and by retaining the vitiated air, to breathe which would " chill" the healthiest subject. " To retain foul air for the sake of its warmth is expensive economy." 88 THE NATURAL CURE OF bed, and so it happened that I could hear all they said. I heard the doctor returning, and I resolved not to take any of his soothing drops ; I had taken all I meant to. 'Well/ said I, 'what have you come back for, doctor?* 'Your father wished me to pre- scribe for you,' said he. ' Never mind/ I said, firmly, ' I shall take nothing more. You say I have six weeks to live : I will spend them in getting rid of the med- icines I have taken the past year/ and he went away. Soon father came in, seeming much disappointed and grieved, and in answer to his questioning, I told him why I had determined to take no more medicine, and what I had resolved to do ; and now I will tell you what I did, and how I came to do it. I had read in an old English almanac — not a medical one, like the ones strewn about everywhere now, but there was a good deal of useful information in it — a ' Sure Cufe for Consumption/ and it was so different from what I had been doing, and appealed so strongly to my judgment, that I had been thinking that if I could only make a start there might be a chance for me ; but the effort required was so great that I doubt if I should have had courage enough to undertake it but for my resentment, upon overhearing that conversa- tion — to think that the doctors had given me nothing but medicine, and that I had been eating in such a way — without any appetite, except for some of the ' rich ' things they were always making because I couldn't relish anything else. The recipe explained that the disease was caused by lack of fresh air, out- door exercise, and appropriate food ; but I will only CONS UMP TION. 89 tell you what I. did, and you will understand all about the reasons 'for it. First, I told father and the rest of the family that as I had but six weeks to live, they must let me have my own way in everything, and must do as I said. I could not move from the bed alone, but I had them carry me on a comforter out • on the lawn and lay me down there. ' How was /to take exercise — when I could scarcely turn myself in bed?' was the question. Well, I did turn myself on one side, and, with a stick, begun to dig a little in the ground. It looked then as though I should not do much damage to the nice sod father had taken so much pains to make ; but I dug a little hole as large as my fist, and then rested. After a while I turned over on the other side and dug another little hole, filled it up, and rested again. It seemed good to rest and I felt a little better ; for the outdoor air, and the exertion I had put forth, 'loosened' my cough a lit- tle, and I begun to ' raise/ At night they carried me back to bed. My bed-room windows had been wide open all day, and I wouldn't have them shut now ; but in answer to their fears about the night air and catching cold, I said, ' Give me clothes enough, and I will risk the night air — I'm going to breathe pure air the next six weeks — if I live so long/ They all felt terribly — they thought I was shortening my life, even then — but they yielded, final- ly, in everything, even to not asking me ' if I couldn't eat a little of this, or that, if they would make it for me?' I had replied: ' No, when I feel like eating a piece of Graham bread or a potato, without butter or 9 THE NATURAL CURE OF salt, I will eat something — not before/ This had oc- curred ' in the morning, and that very night I asked for a slice of bread and ate a little bit — as big as my two fingers, perhaps. I had them put a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper* in a dish and turn warm water on it — a quart — and let it stand overnight, and in the morning was sponged all over in that water — the dregs turned off. I had them bathe an arm and then dry it with a coarse towel, and rub me with it as hard as I could bear (not very hard, to be sure), then a leg, and so on.f It seemed to give the dead skin a little life ; then they carried me out to my ' work ' again ! I felt like resting after the bath, but after a while I turned over and dug a larger hole than on the day before, filled it — partly with what I raised from my lungs, and such stuff as it was ! I could take longer breaths, too ; and after digging a minute or so I would have to stop and take a long breath, and then go on again. % I was thirsty a good deal, and would drink * It was, in the author's opinion, the bath rather than the pepper which proved so beneficial. t In practice, it will often prove that quick sponging, all over, and brisk drying, followed, perhaps, by thorough hand-rubbing, will be more useful than the " piece-meal " bath : with water at a comfortable temperature, and the work quickly and skillfully performed, while it might seem likely to occa- sion a severe shock to the patient, still, it is but one "shock " instead of many, and is really far less trying, with many patients, than the more pro- longed process with its oft-repeated local shocks. If rightly managed, the reaction from the full bath makes it altogether the most agreeable. It is of vital importance, to secure this warm " reaction, " and if, in any instance, there is failure in this direction, the instant application of warming appli- ances — hot-water bottles to feet, warm flannel wraps, extra blankets, etc. — is imperatively demanded. Baths which are succeeded by chilliness are de- pleting, and if of common occurrence are destructive to life ; far better not bathe at alL £ See note 6 in Appendix, p. 284. CONSUMPTION. 91 water — all I wanted. I ate a piece of stale coarse bread and some fruit that morning after I was rested from my first digging, and then I kept on resting for some hours, after which I dug a little more. In the middle of the day, when the sun came down too hot, I had an old umbrella put over me and fast ened. At night a little bit of bread and a small potato: I ate as much as I could relish, but not a mouthful more. In this way I kept on, day after day, and they began to see that I was gaining. Father, who could not believe the gain was real, but rather the temporary effect of my will, yet joked me about ruining the lawn : - 1 shall have to turf it all over again, Lucia/ said he, even before I could dig a hole large enough in a day to bury a cat in, and he tried to laugh at hi*»i ; ttle joke. I remember that I did laugh, and came near strangling in a coughing fit in conse- quence, but that was a help ; what I needed was to cough and raise the stuff up — those old ulcers that the doc- tor said my lungs were covered with — and I found fresh air, flavored with a little exercise, a better ' ex- pectorant,' as you doctors say, than those I had been taking. I began to feel hopeful — the novelty of the idea — digging for my life ! I took a desperate view of it — six weeks to live — i Til die fighting/ I said to myself. It seemed almost droll — droll enough, at any rate, to interest my mind, and I would say funny things to the others to make them laugh, and this seemed to make them try to be cheerful and to cheer me on. The third day, I remember that I ate the same kind of a breakfast — just a little — and 92 THE NATURAL CURE OF at night asked them to boil a beet ! I would have only one vegetable at a time, lest I might be tempted to overeat and lose my appetite, and so spoil every- thing.* I was impressed with the idea of ' earning my living ' at outdoor work — ' by the sweat of my brow ' — and not to eat more than I earned by the ex- ercise. I had renounced my coffee and tea ; I ate no grease of any kind, nor meat — bread, fruit, and vege- tables only — no salt or spices, pastry, pie, puddings, nor cake, nor ' sweets ' of any sort, except the natural, whole sweet furnished by nature, in the form of vege- tables and sweet fruits. The prescription said that some people ate too much soft food, — bread and milk, puddings, and the like, — and that while such dishes were better than many others in common use, still they were not the best, especially for sicWpeople with weak stomachs, but that dry (farinaceous) food was every way better ; and so I ate bread, or unleavened biscuit, which, after a little practice, the girl could make very nice, — just the meal and water well mixed and moulded stiff and baked in a hot oven, — and I ate them very slowly, chewing each mouthful thoroughly. You can tell, perhaps, doctor, just why this should make a difference :f I only know that it seemed to agree with my stomach better. They * One element which aided immensely in this remarkable cure, was the absence of great variety in the food. Indigestion is the enemy to be over- come ; and he must be " killed dead." Variety is this enemy's right-hand man — encouraging excess and the indulgence in questionable articles ; and, above all, prohibiting the adaptation of the digestive organs to any class of all the ailments thrust upon them. (See foot-note, p. 213.) t The " difference " is in the digestibility, and in guarding against excess : CONSUMPTION, 93 bathed me every morning in the same way, only after a while they did not have to work so slowly and cautiously. I could exercise more and more, from day to day, and with less and less fatigue, and I laughed to myself that father's joke would prove something more than a joke ; I was bound to undo all his nice work ; and I knew he wouldn't care, so that I could get well. After a while I could raise myself up and sit erect, and dig a little, first on one side and then on the other ; and by the time my ' six weeks ' were up — and I told father so one day — I could dig a pretty good grave for myself, if they wanted to bury me ; only, it wouldn't be quite deep Overeating is, of itself, a positive guarantee of indigestion.* The advan- tages of the hard bread and " dry diet " are manifold : (i) thorough mastica- tion — calling the muscles of the mouth into action, and while this tends to make the cheeks plump and full, the exercise affects the various glands, and aids in the secretion of the salivary fluids essential for the digestion of starch ; f (2) it causes one to eat slowly, so that each mouthful entering the stomach, is not only thoroughly insalivated and thus prepared for stomach- digestion, but can be thoroughly manipulated in the stomach and impreg- nated completely with the gastric juice : this must be deemed a very impor- tant feature, when we reflect that in very depraved states the digestive fluids are not as abundant nor as readily secreted as in health. (3) Chewing strengthens the gums and the teeth, — tends to preserve them and fit them for their legitimate work : decaying teeth are a source, as well as a symptom, of disease. * In accordance with a universal law of nature, — "the conservation of energy," — "gastric juice," upon which digestion depends, "is secreted from the blood by the glands of the stomach, in proportion to the needs of the organism for food, and not in proportion to the amount of food swallowed." There is, therefore, a normal dyspepsia for whatever of excess is taken. Moreover, in such cases, none of the food is well digested. f Ptyalin, a vegetable matter contained in healthy saliva, has very pecul- iar properties : "if mixed with starch and kept at a moderate warm tem- perature, it turns that starch into grape-sugar. The importance of this operation becomes apparent when one reflects that starch is insoluble, and therefore, as such, useless as nutriment, while the sugar formed from it is highly soluble, and readily oxidizable." — Huxley. % 94 THE NATURAL CURE OF enough to hold me down — for I had actually raised myself to my feet, stood alone, and walked a few steps without help. On the eighth week I could walk about — would walk off a dozen steps, come back, sit down — perhaps lie down. The more I did, the more I could do — always taking care not to exhaust myself — and the more I could eat ; but I took even more care not to overeat than not to overwork: I found that the real thing was to eat little enough — ■ not to see how much I could eat — so that I could in- crease the amount regularly, rather than to lose my ap- petite and eat nothing some days, or eat without an appetite, and next day eat enormously, perhaps, as mother used to; I wouldn't have them 'fix up '^any- thing — I was afraid of being put back. I ate but twice a day, and sometimes my breakfast was nothing but fruit— two or three oranges or as many apples, or a huge slice of watermelon — this was food and drink, both. I wore the least possible weight of clothing — • often removing my stockings as well as shoes, and going barefooted and bare-armed when the weather was very warm. I had lost all fear of taking cold, though I kept comfortable always — throw- ing off clothing when too warm, and putting it on, as any great change in the temperature made it necessary, but to the extent of my increasing strength I endeavored to keep warm by exerting my muscles. One day, after some months of self-treatment, and when it had become evident that I was really conva- lescent, I asked brother to call Dr. Osgood (the young doctor who refused to take my case). * Why, sis/ said CONS UMP TION. 95 he, 'you are not in earnest?* ' Yes, I am/ said I, ' I want to tell him how to cure consumption ! You tell him I want to see him, but don't say what for/ He had been away somewhere, and had forgotten all about me, of course, but when brother spoke to him about me, he was astonished to find that I was alive. 4 It was amazing' he said. ' Yes, if there is any chance of sav- ing (!) her I will call ' — and he came. He expressed his pleasure at finding me so well, and I suppose he thought I had come to a point where I felt the need of his advice and a • tonic/ perhaps ; but I just made him listen to the story of my self-cure, and asked him if he couldn't advise others to do the same way, and so do his patients more good. He was inclined to be vexed, at first, but finally he laughed and said : i Really, Miss B , I have come here at your request, and you have prescribed for me, instead of I for you, and I thank you for it — will pay you for it, if you will name the price — but I could not practice in that way. Why, how many consumptives would act upon my advice, if it was of that character? How many, in- deed, would have the second visit from me, or recom- mend me to others? They would even denounce me to their friends — to every one they saw, and I would have to go to digging in the ground myself, or leave for other parts. No, Miss B , you learned the true secret, and you were " fit " to " survive " because you worked out your own salvation : you have taught me something — a valuable lesson, I may say, and one that I shall profit by as I have an opportunity ; but we could never set up such a reform — one doctor, nor 96 THE NATURAL CURE OF two, nor three, alone — the time is not ripe for it, phy- sicians are not ripe for it, and it can only come, if it is ever to come, by just such independent action as your case represents.' And so he went away, and I continued my ■ treatment/ The next summer I had a little flower garden of my own, watered and tended it, and, a little later, helped about the kitchen-garden, besides taking care of my own room ; and so I went on, gaining steadily, until, within two years, I was well — better than I had known myself since my romping days, and I have scarcely had a real sick day since — never a serious illness from that day to this, nearly thirty years." "How do I keep well?" you ask. " Why, by pursuing the same principle that cured me — the same, in fact, that would have prevented my decline, in the first place. I never breathe i in- door ■ air, winter nor summer, day nor night ; I eat only the simplest food, and in moderation — yet I will, sometimes, eat a little more than I need — • some meals or some days — and will have a little headache, or, perhaps, an old tooth will ache, or there may be a little disturbance in the stomach ; but whatever it is, I eat more moderately — some- times go without a meal ; and if anything more serious than I have named presents itself — lack of appetite, or a bad feeling at the stomach, or a bad headache — I go all day without eating, and keep about my work, as usual, or take a walk outdoors, and this plan always works a cure. You see, I dress right — loose garments, no corsets, no heavy skirts hanging to my waist or hips, no smothering flannels, except the CONS UMP TION. 97 lightest, and those only in the coldest weather; I keep busy about something most of the time ; take a good deal of exercise ; go out when I can, and bring outdoors in when I can't go out — by having every part of my house well ventilated and as light and 1 sunshiny ' as need be (you see, doctor, I am not whimsically afraid of flies nor of fading the carpet) ; I think of my escape, of my good health, and this makes me cheerful. I feel sure of not getting sick — -I have no anxiety on that score, — and I try to do what good I can, in my small way, and all this is as it should be — it is i healthy/ and, all things be- ing so, there is only one other chance to err, and that is in eating, and so when anything troubles me, I know what it is. So many people go wrong in all these things — dress bad, breathe bad air, feel lan- guid in consequence and lie about doing nothing, in- doors ; eat worse food than I do, and eat more and oftener — no wonder they are always ailing, nor that so many die. But, Doctor, this will not cure my niece — our talking — and I don't suppose I have taught you anything, as I did the young doctor, so many years ago ; but if, as you say, you can tell the story for the benefit of others, I shall be very glad indeed to see it in print. You will send me a copy of the paper, won't you ? i A dozen copies ? ' Well, all the better, I will send them to my friends ; they will wonder how the i old story ' got into the papers." And that is the way this history of a " Natural Cure" came to be printed. Note the special elements lending to insure sue 5 9 8 THE NATURAL CURE OF cess in the case of self-treatment just given : The courage, prevalent good temper (so rarely found in these cases), and determination to win (equally rare), did much, very much, toward conquering her disease ; but it is more than doubtful if these alone would have sufficed : her success in winning the family over to her radical views, or, at least, in gain- ing their entire co-operation, was a marked feature looking toward a final victory. None of them ven- tured to discourage her, — all joined heartily in the work. Had she sat at an ordinary table, one crowded with " good things "; and had her friends persisted in entreating her to eat this, that, and the other thing, it is probable that her good resolutions would have failed, sooner or later, — her life paying the forfeit. And this leads me to mention a most important feat- ure of what has come to be known as the " Salisbury Treatment ": " Meals are to be taken at regular inter- vals, and the patient should eat either alone or with those who are using the same diet, and not sit down at a table where others are indulging in all kinds of food. He should take a good draught — one or two cupfuls — of warm water an hour before each meal ; a sponge-bath two or three mornings,* and a comfortable full bath once a week. For the latter use a little pure Castile soap, but rinse thoroughly. Air-baths and sun- baths are also of great importance. (See 'Air-baths/) * If desirable, this bath may be taken later in the day ; but it should never occur within one hour before, nor until at least three hours after any meal. The temperature of the water should be agreeable with sensitive patients, but gradually lowered from day to day, until cool water becomes agreeable. CONS UMP TION. 99 Flannel worn next the skin [I should say, that the year round, cotton underwear is far better], and the clothing frequently changed and aired. As much open-air exercise as can be borne without fatigue, or thorough rubbing and pounding of the body [or squeezing of the muscles of the entire body, with a firm grasp of the attendant's hand] morning and evening for those too weak to take exercise/* It is the prevalent belief that hot food is desirable especially for feeble persons, inclined to chilliness ; but while smoking-hot dishes produce a temporary feeling of warmth and comfort, this is usually suc- ceeded by a " reaction," producing a still greater de- gree of chilliness : the congestion excited by the presence of the hot food or drink, soon subsides, leaving the stomach anaemic, delaying digestion, perhaps preventing it altogether. Cool food, properly masticated, acquires in the mouth a normal tempera- ture, and thus enters the stomach without producing the unnatural stimulation which arises from the in- gestion of hot food, and which is likely, in the case of feeble persons, to cause, secondarily, most mis- chievous effects. A single mistake of this sort may excite congestion of the lungs, and undo the good work of weeks of right living. This can not seem in- credible, in view of the fact that a single excessive meal often excites an attack of congestion of the lungs in the case of robust persons. True, in these instances the disorder is usually attributed to " a sudden cold," whether the victim can or can not recall any exposure, but the fact is as I have stated. I have had mam IOO THE NATURAL CURE OF instances like the following: A business man, accus- tomed to an outdoor life, rises in the morning after a good night's sleep, feeling as well as usual ; eats a hearty breakfast, dons his overcoat, walks briskly to his place of business, and entering the hot, close office, per- haps within thirty minutes from the time of rising from the breakfast-table, he finds himself so hoarse that he can hardly make himself understood, and feels a pres- sure at the lungs indicating a great degree of conges- tion. There is but one way to explain this : a pre- disposition ; a hot meal, rapidly eaten ; active exer- cise taken immediately thereafter, and while the stomach is engorged with food — what more is need- ed ? The wonder is, not that this man is suddenly made sick, but, rather, that he is not oftener so. The consumptive will often derive great benefit from a full stomach-bath daily, consisting of about a pint of tepid water rapidly swallowed, on rising or an hour before breakfast. This will not create nausea or ex- cite vomiting, unless there is occasion for these symp- toms, arising from the presence of undigested food ; but it will prove healing, prevent thirst and the ne- cessity for drinking with, or directly after, meals — al- though, whenever there is thirst, the patient should drink pure cool water, moderately, but to his satis- faction, finally. It is better, however, as a rule, to drink regularly, an hour or so before each meal, such an amount as suffices to prevent thirst, while not causing a feeling of discomfort soon after drinking. A little practice, with careful observation, will soon enable the patient to judge how much to take. CONSUMPTION. IOI OPEN-MOUTH BREATHING. I am not going to recommend the consumptive, nor any person, well or ill, to do all or much of his breathing through the mouth ; on the contrary, I agree that the nostrils were designed to warm and filter the air, and that in general this is necessary. But there are times when the atmosphere does not require to be filtered and when it had better not be warmed ; and I wish to do away with all fear of dan- ger from casual or occasional open-mouth breathing, especially in the open air, and in winter, or at any season when there is freedom from dust, and regard- less of the weather, and the time of day or night. For " sore " or irritated throat and bronchi, or op- pressed lungs, I have found persistent open-mouth breathing of pure cold air curative in its tendency ; and have myself, upon occasion, gone out on a win- ter's night, to walk and breathe in this manner by the hour. Consumptives are often subject to attacks of dyspnoea (difficult breathing), but rarely, if ever, do they come on out of doors ; it is rather, when, having been vouchsafed a little pure respiratory food, the lungs are again forced to respire the hot, poisoned, make-believe air of the home, that the congestion takes place. And this may be set down as the only danger in the premises, viz. : the return from the fresh, pure and bracing atmosphere without, to the over-heated and under-ventilated living-rooms. The remedy, then, for an attack under such circumstances would be found in throwing open the doors and win* 102 THE NATURAL CURE OF dows — keeping well wrapped or warm in bed — rather than in sealing the crevices and piling on fuel. Even pneumonia, most dreaded of " diseases/' in which the lungs are congested to engorgement, is now being successfully treated on this principle — the persistent open-mouth breathing of out-door air, if in the winter, or the same, drawn through an ice-packed refriger- ator — (scrupulously clean and profusely ventilated), if the weather be warm ; the patient, meanwhile, being warm in bed, though never sweltered with wraps [the aim being to balance the temperature, by cooling the head, heating the feet, and exposing and sponging the feverish surface, as may be indicated], and supplied with a proper face-piece to which is attached a flexible tube, through which the cold air is passed direct to the lungs ; this manner of breath- ing to be constant and uninterrupted, hour after hour, and throughout the night, if necessary {never remit- tent), until the temperature of the patient, as indicated by the thermometer placed under the arm, is reduced to about the normal point (98. 2° F.), and the pressure at the lungs relieved. The philosophy of this treat- ment is as evident as is that of the playing of an engine upon the hottest part of a fire. A WORD ABOUT THE BED. The bed and its covering constitute the night- clothes, and for the bed-ridden patient day-clothes as well. Therefore, we can hardly place too much im- portance upon the bed and its appointments. And yet, in view of all that has been said relating to clean- CONS UMP TION. 103 liness and wholesomeness, in a general way, but few words are necessary to tell the story. The bed may be of straw, even, and still, if full, fresh, and well- made, be every way sufficient for comfort and health. — better, indeed, than a poor or long-used mattress of any sort ; — a mattress of hair, cotton, or wool makes a complete bed. A feather bed is the worst of all. Whatever the bed may be, it should remain open and airing whenever the patient is out of it for any length of time ; hence the bed-room should not be the sit- ting-room when avoidable. Patients confined to the bed altogether, should, if possible, have two — one for day, the other for nigfht use — each kept airing during all the time it is unoccupied, and, when practicable, placed in the open air and in the sunshine a portion of the day ; the more the better. After the cotton or linen sheets, the^ covering (of as little-weight as is consistent with comfort) „ should, in place of the common "corofortables," consist of woolen blankets, which, being porous, are less " stifling " to the body (see foot-note, p. 171), and permit of being readily cleansed and dried ; and they should be thus treated as often as once in three or four weeks, at least, and oftener if the thorough airing recommended is not given them. The " sick-room " should be the " health- iest " room in the house — bright, sunny, and made as "cheery" as possible. No "long-faces" should enter it ; there should be no "croning about" — no constant " how-do-you-feel-to-days," nor subdued looks or airs. Carry along a happy, cheery face and tone, or keep out of the sick-room altogether. Above all, no mind- 104 THE NATURAL CURE OF pictures about eating, eating, eating — unless the pa- tient is past hope ! THE POSITION IN BED, As well as when up and about, is a matter of im- portance to the sick or well. With the sick, the habit of " rounding up " to the disease is every way prejudicial. Consumptives are especially inclined to seek present ease to their ultimate hurt. It should be one of the aims, in " lung difficulties/' to increase the breadth of the chest in order to give more room for the expansion of the lungs ; and this demands increased efforts to expand the lungs, and to push the shoulders back — gradually, very gradually, never to the extreme, but with steady persistence. No radical and immediate change must be looked for; none can be accomplished, in any direction, whether in the shape of the body, quality of lung tissue, or breathing pow T er ; but a gradual transformation may be inaugurated, and ensured by means of persistent effort, as the general health improves. It is best to lie, at least much of the time spent in bed, as nearly flat upon the back as possible, slightly inclining to- ward the side, or alternating between the two posi- tions, with the head low ; arms and legs " at ease," the latter not drawn or " curled" up, but slightly relaxed. If the general regimen is strictly hygienic, the position as thus described will, so far from work- ing any harm, prove of advantage — favoring free breathing, as well as the fullest rest of the body. Where there is shortness of breath and difficulty in CONSUMPTION. 105 breathing, the patient is inclined to cultivate the habit of narrowing the shoulders, and so bolstering himself in bed as to still further shorten the breath, thus temporarily easing the difficulty, but finally in- creasing the disease. He needs to courageously take the opposite course (never rashly, however), and meet the consequences, which are likely to be manifested in some increase of coughing and raising — the very things he needs to do, but which he is apt to shrink from as much as possible. In avoiding natural " ex- pectorants/' the necessity for artificial ones seems to arise. In the one case he raises with some effort what, in his present state, may be described as the normal amount of mucus; in the other, expectora- tion is easier because there is more to raise. The former is curative ; the latter tends to fatality. Well knowing that sexual indulgence constitutes one of the most fruitful causes of this disease — of de- cline, in short, however exhibited — I will conclude by saying, that the consumptive should never depart from the rule of strict continence. (See Appetite.) No language can exaggerate the importance of this injunction for a person who is even threatened with decline, if he means to eradicate his disease. The sexual and the nervous systems (including the brain) act and react upon one another, keeping both abnor- mally alert, and these upon the digestive and assimi- lative, through the sympathetic, altogether making a quadrangular fight well calculated to impair — to break down, indeed — the strongest constitution ; while with the less vigorous (often the most lascivious ; or, may 5* 106 NATURAL CURE OF CONSUMPTION. be, the victim of a libidinous but otherwise consider- ate companion) the case is hopeless, unless the true remedy is applied. The patient should sleep alone, if possible, not even the husband or wife sharing the bed — a rule which, from every point of view, is of importance to both the patient and the attendant. Note. — The underlying principle of this work prohibits the idea of a spe- cKic and exclusive treatment for this, that, and the other disease mentioned ; for these are named simply in order that we may make a beginning toward understanding the term sickness : the entire volume, from preface to finis, is a treatise on the origin of sickness, its prevention and cure. In view of this, we can not leave the consumptive here, while the dyspeptic, the rheumatic, or the douloureux "-tic is invited to a consideration of his peculiar symptoms, — for these, in large measure, are mere accidents, since the rheumatic of to- day may be the paralytic of to-morrow, and the dyspeptic of this year the consumptive next, and so on. But all classes, and all who wish to inform themselves as to what makes pain and sickness, and what ends these symp- toms, should study carefully the various chapters, omitting none. CHAPTER IV. CONSTIPATION. TWYORARY non-action of the bowels as excretory organs, is entirely normal under certain conditions, as (i) following diarrhoea or looseness, whether caused by indigestion or physic, (2) throughout the period of a fast, (3) for the mother, several days (varying from 3 to 10), at confinement,"* and (4) at such other times * The very common practice of administering purgatives or injections a few days after confinement is not only unnecessary — it is fraught with mis- chief and often with disaster. I have known of instances where robust women were kept sick, and dangerously so, in bed for weeks in consequence of the free use of oil administered by the physician (according to his invaria- ble practice) on the third and succeeding days. At her next confinement, one lady who had suffered as above, having lived hygienically during the gesta- tion period, suffered very little pain, was on her feet, washed and dressed her baby, and had a natural movement on the second day. In another case pur- gation was attempted on the third day and, oil not acting promptly, the total results of profuse injections at intervals for the next three days, was, on the sixth day, to bring away about a teaspoonful of strazv&erry seeds, the resi- due of berries eaten on the previous day. It is evident that the food was well digested and absorbed into the circulation, and that no fecal matters were secreted ; hence no occasion for the bowels to " move," in the common understanding of the term. In cases where women approaching confinement are troubled with constipation (entirely unnecessary if they will live proper- ly), the lower bowel should be evacuated by the aid of free injections prior to delivery ; but succeeding that event nature may well be left to herself for a time. Nature, however, does not have a fair chance where patients of this class are overfed ; hence, and hence only, the necessity for "aiding" her in moving the bowels. (107) 108 THE NATURAL CURE OF as " Nature finds it necessary to muster all the ener- gies of the system for some special purpose, momen- tarily of paramount importance," as in alarming sick- nesses where, accompanied by lack of appetite, the bowels remain closed for a considerable period of time. In none of these circumstances should there be con- tinued efforts to excite action. In the last-named in- stance the lower bowel may need a clearing out by free injection at the beginning, and whenever there are fecal matters to remove ; but when convalescence is established, the appetite and strength have re- turned, food is taken and digested, the bowels will act of their own accord. The practice of fore- stalling nature in this matter by using physic or injections is often the cause of much mischief — it is an impertinent interference in nature's plans, and is seldom useful. If the sufferer is never fed, except at convalescence and when a natural appetite has returned, and then only with plain, wholesome food, — restricting the quantity to the present capacity for digestion and absorption, — the evacuation of the lower bowel may be awaited without any feeling of anxiety or alarm at its seeming tardiness. Returning strength is the only needed physic. In case of severe constipation, injections — internal baths, so to say — may be employed in emergencies, but infrequently and with extreme care, lest they aggravate the evil and provoke others. Although in no sense as injurious as purgative medicines, which inevitably impair the nutritive organs, still enemas should never be depended on for daily movements * CONS TIP A TION. 1 09 Next to a correct dietary, with liberal exercise in the open air, one of the best aids in promoting regular action of the bowels is, in my opinion, passive exercise — kneading of the bowels for say five minutes or more before each meal — and the more active exercise of, say, imitating for a few minutes the arms-and- body swinging motions of a mower in the hay-field ; spending another few minutes in hopping up and down, twice on each foot alternately, while " keeping time " by slapping the thighs and swaying the body to the right and left ; stooping and rising, bending forward and back, etc. ; twisting the body around, first one way and then the other, with the hips as the pivotal point (at stool this last greatly facilitates the ejective process), etc., etc. Sedentary persons, and all who feel " chilly " at times, will find, upon trial, that a few minutes devoted to such exercise, occa- sionally, or whenever the need is felt, will be far more satisfactory than extra garments, or hovering about the fire : it sets the blood a-tingling in the veins and warms a body up.* (See Consumption, * William Cullen Bryant, — a most worthy model, mentally, morally, and physically — thus explains how he had "reached a pretty advanced period of life without the usual infirmities of old age." Next to his abstemious and mostly vegetable diet, and pure moral life, we may well agree with him in the belief that his wonderful preservation was largely due to his custom of going to bed early and early rising, and " for a full hour, immediately upon rising, with very little encumbrance of clothing, taking a series of exercises, designed to expand the chest, and at the same time call into action all the muscles and articulations of the body," followed by a bath "from head to foot." — Hygiene 0/ the B?-ain : $1.50.! New York, M. L. Holbrook. f This most valuable work contains letters from a score or more of eminent men and women who have lived to advanced age, descriptive of their living habits. The similarity of their mode of life is a feature worthy of remark. 1 10 THE NA TURAL CURE OF for general regimen as to diet, air, exercise, cloth- ing.) If for a time the bowels are willful in the matter of demanding rest to complete a process of healing going on in the diseased glands when there has been distention and irritation, or until a reformed dietary shall have strengthened the general system when, from any cause, it has been under-nourished, and there is, consequently, no ac- tion for two, three, or even four days at a time, it need occasion no alarm, and the novice will be sur- prised to see how natural a movement will finally re- ward his or her patience in awaiting the call of nature, instead of badgering her into unnatural activity. It must be remembered that it is good health that en- sures daily movements, and not daily movements good health. Indeed, when produced by hook or crook, as is often the rule with infants, and adults, even, they do much harm. Daily purgations or injections are made necessary only by gross feeding; and if the latter abuse be persisted in it may be best to move the bowels frequently at all hazards. Under ..the in- fluence of this combination, however, the small intes- tines are often so disordered as to impair, even de- stroy, their power of assimilating food, and together with the colon, or large intestine, become so torpid as almost to require the use of dynamite to move them. Straining at stool is, beyond a slight degree, ab- normal, or is made necessary only by abnormal condi- tions, which render defecation difficult ; it tends to perpetuate and increase the difficulty, and should not CONS TIP A TION. 1 1 1 be practiced ordinarily. The congestion and engorge- ment of the blood-vessels in the region of the rectum and anus from various causes, as retained fecal mat- ters, or irritation and congestion of the genital organs (which two causes act and react upon each other), produce hemorrhoids (piles), and this complaint is ag- gravated by the straining referred to. In such cases resort must be had to cool or tepid injections for a time. One effect of deep breathing, from either ex- ercise or habit — filling the lungs in such a manner as to press the diaphragm downward — is to cause regular pressure on the bowels, which aids in exciting their vermicular motion, and facilitates the action, both of the small intestines as digesters, and of the lower bowel in its secretory and excretory functions. The "movement," when natural, consists of waste matters secreted from the blood by the glands of the colon, and not, as is popularly supposed, of food substances, at least not to any considerable degree. When it does (and I am bound to say that this is the rule, rather than the exception), it is because the person has eaten at least that much more than he ought. A good rule for many who suffer tortures of mind because of constipation would be: mind your own business and let your bowels mind theirs. Strive not to have movements, but rather to deserve them. That is, attend to the general health by living hygienically, and the bowels will, if given regular opportunity, move when there is anything to move for ! With infants or young children, a little excess of food will, at first, occasion a little looseness, or increased action, usu- 1 12 THE NA TURAL CURE OF ally ; deficiency in diet would cause constipation. The remedy in either case is plain : a little less food in the one case, a little more in the other. The first symptom, looseness, could not result from deficiency in diet, that is, if the deficiency related to quantity solely — the quality being plain and digestible. Tan- ner had no movement during his fast ; Griscomb's experience was similar, and Connolly, the consump- tive, who fasted forty-three days, had no movement for three weeks, and then the temporary looseness was occasioned by profuse water-drinking, which in his case proved curative. In common life, it is rare indeed that constipation is the result of a deficient diet, although it often arises from lack of nourishment consequent upon excess, or an unwholesome variety of food, or both. Usually it may be regarded as the " re- action " from over-action. The not uncommon experi- ence, in regular order, is this : Excess in diet, diarrhcea, constipation, physic or enema, purgation, worse con- stipation, more physic, and so on. The term reaction here means simply that the organs involved having been irritated by undigested food, and having by means of increased action cleared away the obstruc- tions, now seek restoration by the most natural method, as the name itself implies — rest. What are commonly called diseases are in reality cures ; and the common practice, with drug doctors, of " CONTROLLING THE SYMPTOMS/' is like answering the cries and gesticulations of a drowning man with a knock on the head. If when CONS TIP A TION. 1 1 3 these intestinal disorders arise, or have become serious, their chief cause — over-feeding — be kept up> the next of nature's remedies may be inflammation of stomach or bowels, or both, followed, perhaps, by dysentery, which is the most serious phase of con- stipation. These are very alarming symptoms, and demand entire abstinence from food until they are considerably abated ; pure water should be given freely, and, when possible, exercise to some degree in the open air; tepid water injections, followed by gen- tle kneading of the bowels for a few minutes, occa- sionally, to promote the circulation in that region, thus favoring the cleansing and healing process. The appearance of a little fresh blood, even, following this treatment, should not excite alarm ; on the contrary, it is, per se, a favorable symptom. This special phase of the subject is treated more at length in the au- thor's work entitled " How to Feed the Baby." A very common mistake with the laity, and often enough made by physicians in diagnosing this com- plaint, is that of considering a comfortable daily movement conclusive proof that the bowels are not constipated. Few people have tongues that are en- tirely clean, and a coating there indicates, unmistaka- bly, a worse one of the stomach and intestines.* The daily — perhaps semi-daily — action is the result of purgation often, though they would scorn the idea of taking physic — the quantity or quality of their food being such as to cause a degree of indigestion and consequent irritation sufficient to produce purgative * See chapter on Consumption. 114 THE NATURAL CURE OF effects. While this condition can be endured, all seems to be going along well. There is, to be sure, more or less of acidity, sour stomach, eructations of acrid mat- ters (see the Salisbury theory in article on Consump- tion), flatulence, headache, neuralgic or rheumatic pains — more or less in number of the scores of ail- ments so common as to be considered almost normal — but not immediately any serious or alarming com- plaint. But, after a time, longer or shorter, according to the constitution of the individual, the movements become less satisfactory — irregular and not as profuse as common, and are passed with some difficulty, per- haps. Next to the mistake of resorting to drugs in these cases, is the quite common one of swallowing special kinds of food for the same purpose, and there is some question as to which of the two evils is the least. An excessive quantity of rye mush, wheaten grits, or oat groats, with a generous dressing of but- ter, syrup, milk, or honey to wash it down in abnor- mal haste, will often purge the bowels like the most drastic poison. Active exercise in the open air, taken in conjunction with a proper diet, would prove cura- tive ; but in default of this the case goes from bad to worse, until in spite of all the efforts made, the con- stipation becomes more and more obstinate, various symptoms increasing in degree and new ones appear- ing, until there almost certainly follows a severe " attack " of some sort : whether this be typhoid, bilious, rheumatic, or scarlet fever, erysipelas, diph- theria, or what not, depends upon the age, surround- ings, and diathesis of the patient. CONS TIP A TION. 1 1 5 All such attacks may be called Nature's kill-or-cure remedies when, as a last resort, she is forced to adopt " heroic treatment "; but aid her in the Natural Cure and she is most kind. Note. — Attention is called to the notes following Consumption, and Bright's Disease. ' CHAPTER V. bright's disease (albuminuria). In its later stages, this is one of the worst forms of disease. It is often said to be caused by " cold." There can be no doubt but what a person whose kid- neys are already badly diseased, and, consequently, his whole system depraved, may have a violent illness excited by extreme exposure to wet and cold. The same may be said in case of one reduced by any ex- hausting form of disease ; but sound-bodied men, liv- ing hygienically, could never have this disease, what- ever the degree of cold they might have to endure. On the contrary, this disease is not known among the residents of the polar regions ; our own explorers among the ice-fields of the north do not have it, al- though exposed for long periods to a temperature at 40 to 6o° F. below zero, and to changes of so extreme a character that our temperate climate affords no parallel to them. " In the accounts of Arctic expedi- tions, though the most intense cold was often en- dured, under circumstances of great fatigue, by men previously weakened by disease and hardship, this is not among the diseases from which they suffered. Dr. Kane's men, though enduring extreme cold, ex (116) BRIGHT 'S DISEASE. 117 posed on one occasion for seventy-two hours at a mean temperature of -41° below zero, suffered fear- fully from frost-bite and scurvy, but not from any renal affection. Other travelers within the Arctic circle bear the same testimony, and I have been in- formed by those familiar with the cold districts of North America, that there renal dropsy is unknown." * " The travelers in the frigid zone are exposed to far greater and more sudden transitions of temperature than are ever felt in our changeable but temperate climate. Capt. Parry states that his men often under- went a sudden change of 120 , in passing from the cabin of the vessel to the outer air, and yet none but the most trifling complaints resulted. Here we have all the circumstances from which experience would lead us to anticipate renal disease, viz.: great preceding depression, intense and protracted cold suddenly ap- plied Extreme cold," continues Dr. Dickinson (ibid.) " though it may stop cutaneous exhalation, probably does not allow the material that would cause renal inflammation to accumulate. Cold in- creases the action of oxygen and gives rise to increas- ed combustion of the solids and fluids of the body. This condition, as I have emphasized elsewhere repeatedly, occasions a demand for a large amount of food daily, to supply the waste, and exalts the di- gestive powers correspondingly. The moral of all this, for those w r ho, living in a temperate climate. would avoid these disorders — all physical disorders, * "Treatise on Albuminuria," by W. Howship Dickinson, M.D., F.R.C. P., etc., p. 54. 1 1 8 THE NA TURAL CURE OF indeed — is that here the above conditions can not ob- tain to the extent of rendering possible the digestion and absorptio?i of three full meals a day. Only under exceptional circumstances are two such meals ever thoroughly digested and assimilated — they can never be, unless needed ; and this fact is not disproved sim- ply because inexperts do not recognize the symp- toms of indigestion which everywhere prevail among themselves. Some of the most incorrigible workers, with both brain and muscle, known to me, take but one meal a day* and this because they found the change necessary in order to enable them to perform their arduous labors and preserve their health. Others similarly situated divide this meal into two halves — taking a small meal .morning and night, or, better than the latter, a lunch in the morning, and at night, after ample rest, the principal meal. No person ever tried this plan and found any need of a change because of lack of nourishment. + I mention this last point to meet the stock objection of people who essay to escape from the logic of the position — the necessity for the modification of their own die- tetic habits — behind the old dogma, ' one's meat is another's poison.' (See p. 43.) It is entirely probable that a robust man (a frail one would succumb to the exposure, with or without food) exposed for days together, and for the entire twenty- * See note on The One-Meal System. t The fact is — and it can not be made too prominent — ninety-nine in the hundred, of all classes of people, eat in excess of their needs, and the " small eater," eating without appetite, eats, relatively speaking, more exces- bively than the gross-feeder whose appetite never fails. BRIGHT 'S DISEASE. II 9 four hours, to the extreme cold of winter, exercising vigorously meantime, could eat three full meals a day and escape digestive disorder. The habit of ap- proximating as nearly as possible to this diet, in a temperate climate, or while the bodily warmth is maintained by artificial heat, originates the greater proportion of our ailments ; while lack of exercise, and the folly of attempting to oxygenate this exces- sive quantity of food with air that is breathed over and over again — a process which one writer likens to eating one's own foeces — amply accounts for the balance. " By cold the repiratory function is exalted, and the excretion of urea is diminished. With the intense cold of the North Pole (and in the open air), the in- troduction of oxygen by the lungs is probably so great, and the oxidation in the body so active, that all material susceptible of such action becomes oxidized, as much of it as can be converted into car- bonic acid passing out with the breath. The kidneys, therefore, are not liable, as in temperate climates, to be irritated by excrementitious matter, for the stress of excretion falls upon the lungs. ,, (Ibid.) The practical question then is, What can we do, in this particular climate, that shall tend to give us exemp- tion from a disease that can not exist at the poles, where the cold is intense enough to require a man to eat all he can, nor at the tropics, when the heat is met with a diet of juicy fruits?* (See article on * Sojourners from the North, at the tropics, are exempt from disease SO long as they live on the fruits of the soil ; but a beef and brandy regimen makes short work with them. 120 THE NATURAL CURE OF Fruits.) Simply this, and nothing more ; so regulate the diet as to forbid indigestion, or, in other words, eat according to our needs, as governed by work and weather ; and all that has been said about the cause and prevention of H colds " (see C.) is applicable right here. Winter weather (inoperative, however, for those who spend their time in close, warm rooms), scant clothing, much exercise, fresh air — these conditions, so far as present, and to the extent of a man's sub- jection to them, require a larger quantity of food than could be digested under opposite conditions, and tend to mitigate the effects of over-indulgence as to amount and quality. In our climate, how- ever, not one person in ten thousand lives, even in the coldest weather, sufficiently under these influ- ences to require the diet necessary at the poles, viz., three full meals of mixed food, largely composed of fat. Hence, the only palliatives a person can resort to, who adheres to the prevalent mode ot living, as to diet, are those conditions that approach as nearly as possible to those obtaining in the frigid zone ; but these conditions can not be, at least are not, enjoyed here, to a point rendering exemption from disease possible even for the most robust. But when we reflect upotf the fact that our people are not, as a rule, robust (although this would be otherwise but for the unbalanced circumstances under consideration), that they live in warm rooms, wear heavy clothing even within doors, and don thick wraps on going out, work as little as possible (all tending BRIGHT y S DISEASE. \ 2 1 to the need of abstemiousness), and that in the face of all this they do not, at least to any appreciable extent, voluntarily restrict their appetites, but do, in fact, even in summer, imitate the blubber-eaters of the North, nearer than they do the fruit-eaters of the South ; that Sabbath morning finds the New En- glander, for example, gorging himself with pork and beans, hot brown bread dripping with butter, hot, strong coffee, etc. ; Tuesday, roast-beef, with plenty of gravy ; Wednesday — " boiled mutton, with caper sauce/' and so on to Saturday's boiled dinner, of corned-beef, greasy cabbage, etc. (the diet of the poor differing chiefly in the quality, or price per pound), and this just the same during the warmest week in winter as during the coldest, and regardless of any of the possibly varying circumstances, as hard work out of doors, or light work, or none at all, within ; and that this same folly runs into and becomes greater folly in the spring and summer even, except so far as nausea or lack of appetite cause an involuntary modification, — in view of all this we need not look altogether, nor indeed at all, to heredity to ac- count for the wretched disorders to which we, as a people, are subject, and which prevail to an extent almost transforming our literary and art periodicals into indirect partnership-relations with the manufac- turers of quack " remedies" for all forms of sickness ; this class of advertisers pay too liberally to exclude their flaunting lies. I look almost in vain for even a religious journal that refuses to devote any portiot, of its space to medical advertisements. Do our re- 6 122 THE NATURAL CURE OF ligious editors themselves believe in, and take, the " pills " they advertise ? Bright's Disease is one that never attacks those who live on coarse food, live abstemiously, and drink water chiefly. It is rather a disease of " high livers." But a man does not need a large income to ensure this affection : any one who can get all he wants to eat and drink, and who eats and drinks all he " wants " (even without indulgence in wine, or alcohol in any form, which is a prolific cause of this disorder), may safely reckon on some of the symptoms, if not upon the worst form of the disease ; and whether it be the ^understood cause of his death or not, it will surely be a contributing cause. The possession of typically healthy kidneys is a rare circumstance in this climate. The excessive micturition so universal in infancy, occasioned by excess in diet, is the beginning of renal disease. Dr. Bright immortalized his name by discovering the fact that, when a man's last sickness is attended with a certain class of symptoms, as albumen in the urine, final suppression of the urine, and uremic poisoning, they are occasioned by a peculiar disease or degeneration of the kidney. From a practical stand-point we care nothing about the kind of change taking place in the kidney, but rather ask what kind of change in our habits will keep this, and all the organs of the body, in a healthy condition ? The for* mer study is all well enough for those who desire it, but if too much time is devoted to it, and to the relation of drugs thereto, by an individual, he may be, prob- BRIGHT 'S DISEASE. 123 ably will be, the very least fitted to advise an in- quirer who desires to know what he can do to be saved from disease and the supposed necessity of taking medicine. Says Dr. Dickinson (ibid., chap. VI.) : " There are few disorders which are more under the influence of medicine than is the catarrhal inflam- mation of the kidneys/' And the very next sentence is one worth pondering on by those who are accus. tomed to take medicine whenever they come to grief through ignorance or neglect of the laws of life : " Under some plans of treatment/' says this celebrated authority, in continuing, " plans which formerly were almost universally adopted, and still have their advo- cates, the disorder is one of heavy mortality. Under other circumstances the danger is so small, that if once the complaint be recognized, a recovery may be reckoned upon in a large proportion of cases. With- out treatment of any kind there is reason to suppose that a large majority of the subjects of it would re- cover/' (The italics are my own.) From this it will be observed that it depends on one's luck whether he shall fall into the hands of a practitioner who belongs to a class still adhering to the plan ensuring a " heavy mortality," or of one whose modified form of treatment is less fatal ; and upon his good sense, whether he shall come under the influence of either, or adopt the methods indicated herein, viz., the abandonment of disease-producing, and the adoption of ^^-producing, habits, which would be an immense gain over the " no treatment " plan which, according to a rational interpretation of Dr. Dickinson's Ian- 124 THE NATURAL CURE OF guage, is the safest of the three referred to by him. From the three-hundred-page treatise before me, which is fresh from the mint (1881), and is a most valuable book for those who wish to study the pa- thology of the disease (Bright's), but which is little calculated to aid any one healthward, except he be already pretty well informed in hygienic matters, I cull, in addition to the paragraphs already quoted, the following little nugget of pure gold : " We must avoid the use of any drugs which, under the name of stimulating diuretics, might exasperate the existing congestion.; and we must enforce such diet as to re- duce to a minimum that nitrogenous excess which finds its way out chiefly by the kidneys, and provides in many shapes effective means of irritation. Physio- logical repose is to be sought, not by debarring the gland of the harmless and necessary solvent, but by cutting off the materials of urea and uric acid." How naturally, then, do we look for the continuing senti- ments : " ' Spare diet and spring water clear ' may often be found sufficient- though simple remedies. Of all diuretics water is the best"* But how can we reconcile, with such counsel, the treatment that he himself commonly adopts? In one case noted by him, and in which, as he says, u the attack was slight," and " the boy became conva- lescent," but later, although under the doctors own eye *Ibid., p. 86. The italics are my own, and I am amazed to find that this best diuretic is rarely the one used, and never fairly tested by this au- thority, who seems almost to exhaust the materia medica in the treatment of even infants of tender age. BRIGHT' S DISEASE. 125 at the hospital, with " no evidence of his having taken cold," he became worse, went on to a fatal termina- tion, " the urine becoming loaded with albumen and abounding with fibrinous casts — convulsive attacks — death ! " It seems to me easy enough, however, to reconcile the unfavorable turn and the fatal termina- tion with the treatment he adopted, viz., digitalis in- stead of "the best diuretic" (water); "fluid diet," consisting chiefly of beef-tea — a non-nutritive fluid whose solid constituents are mainly urea, kreatine, kreatinine, isoline, and decomposed haematine, ex- actly the animal constituents of the urine, except that there is but a trace of urea.* As the little fellow grew worse, " a little brandy was given to counteract the depressing effect of the digi- talis." " On the 27th, the pulse had fallen to 52, and was not quite regular ; the brandy was therefore increased to two ounces daily," with digitalis every six hours ; later, a " diuretic draught composed of scoparium, acetate of potash, and nitric ether ; on the 29th, this diuretic mixture was changed by the addi- tion of nitre and squills ; on the 30th, as was aptici- pated, he was seized with eliptiform convulsions, a succession of which came on, accompanied with foam- ing and biting of the tongue, and caused his death in two hours and a half."f The next case reported was that of a child eighteen months old, treated at the hospital by the same physician, and described : * London La.7icet. t The case of Thomas Vallance, 9 years old. Oh, wise physician : the fatal symptoms came along *' as anticipated I " 126 THE NATURAL CURE OF " Dropsy — persistent diarrhoea — peritonitis — death. " "The child/' says the celebrated practitioner and author, " was frequently fed with pounded meat and milk ; a little brandy was given, and opiates and astringents were prescribed to check the diarrhoea/' As he went on to his fate, he was made to swallow the following remedies " : " opium, dilute sulphuric acid, tincture of the sesquioxide of iron, acetate of lead. The quantity of brandy was increased to three ounces daily. The child became paler and had a sunken look," etc. " The child sunk a week after ad- mission." I make mention of these cases for the rea- son that up to this day the same horrible treatment Is being practiced. Although these, and many even worse cases contained in this new work, transpired some years ago and were recorded in the first edition, still they remain in the new edition unaccompanied by any note of warning ; and young or old medical students pore over and imitate the examples here set before them. I quote another paragraph from the treatise of Dr. Dickinson, which, if it has, as would seem evident, thrown little light about the doctor's own pathway, as regards the appropriate treatment of the disorder, will prove instructive to some of my readers, and bear favorably upon my theory of disease. In the early pages (p. 29) of the treatise, Dr. Dickinson says : " It may be generally stated that this inflam- matory disease arises from unnatural stimulation of the kidneys. The blood is charged with [food] ma- terial excessive in quantity or unnatural in quality, BRIGHT } S DISEASE. 1 27 which these glands take upon themselves to remove. Their own proper elements of secretion are poured upon them in sudden and excessive amount, or matter is thrown upon them which is foreign to their usual habit. As a consequence of overwork, or of work to which they are not adapted, they take on a turbulent and abnormal activity. They become congested, the tubes get choked up with epithelial growth, and the disease is established. " Many „of the symptoms in the following list are more or less frequently, some of them invariably, present in the case of supposably healthy infants, and are commonly considered as entirely normal. Fairly considered, however, they are the effects of excess in diet. To the greatest possible extent the super- fluous water contained in their gross diet passes off by the kidneys, causing immediately a diseased condition of those organs from overwork ; the cellular tissue becomes loaded and distended with the fatty matters, and also with much water, unrecognized as dropsy until it reaches immense proportions ; what really amounts to purging is so universal as to be re- garded as the normal state of an infant's bowels, and this is, sooner or later, often very early, succeeded by the reaction termed constipation. The back-aching that results from all this is none the less terrible be- cause the little sufferers can not talk and tell where the pain is ; peevishness, general malaise, and crying, tell of suffering, not of (their) perversity. Among the SYMPTOMS OF KIDNEY DISEASE are the following : frequent and copious micturition 128 THE NATURAL CURE OF (wetting the bed or getting up at night) ; later the excretion of urine is scant, passed frequently, or, may be, suppressed altogether. Fat ; later — emacia- tion. Heat and dull pain in the loins* (small of the back), increased by pressure ; slight or consider- able " puffing " about the eyes, noticeable only at times, or it may be constant and unrecognized as a symptom of disease ; it may be diminished at times, as the secretion of urine becomes modified, or the condition of the system happens, temporarily, to improve. And it increases often when the secretion of urine diminishes, or is passed less freely. The countenance is more or less pallid, and may have a brownish tinge. Croupy breathing accompanies oedema of the larynx. " With children, inflamma- tion of one or other of the organs of respiration is the most fatal tendency of the disease. Not only are they liable to pleurisy, pneumonia, and bronchitis, but, also, to membranous croup." Constant tendency to irritability of manner, easily angered, unreasona- bleness, petulance ; with infants — constant fretting, crying, nothing will interest or amuse them. Diphtheria is, I believe, only a phase of albuminuria. Says Dr. Grasmuck, treating of diphtheria, and other physicians have observed the fact : "Another peculi- arity of the scourge is its fondness for children of a certain condition — the fat, sleek, soft, tender, ' well- fed ' children so generally admired — such children can offer but slight resistance to this disease ; being, in * Of all portions of the body, this should be lightly covered, never sweltered with wraps, bindings, or weight of garments. BRIGHT 'S DISEASE. 1 29 fact, chronically diseased, they are predisposed to i at- tacks* of all kinds; and, living to adult age, furnish the greater proportion of cases of tuberculous disease. On the other hand," he continues, " I do not know of a single instance where the disease proved fatal to — rarely attacking — a child of the genus ' Street Arab ' — children who spend most of their time out of doors, are thinly clad, sleep in cold rooms, have a spare diet, and who have no one to pamper them unwisely." Dr. Dickinson treats of albuminuria under three heads, viz., tubular nephritis, granular degeneration, and lardaceous disease. He designates, also, such other diseases as are likely to result in consequence of this disorder; and finds some of these peculiar to, or more apt to afflict, sufferers from one or the other forms. He says: "It is seen (from the table pre- sented) that nephritis is a disease of infancy and youth, causing most deaths in the first decade coincidentally with the prevalence of scarlatina ; many in the third when the toils and exposures of active life are per- haps the most prolific of evil. Granular degeneration belongs to middle and advancing life, and is most fatal between fifty and sixty. The one flourishes upon the febrile accidents [!] of childhood and the susceptibilities of youth ; the other develops when the habits of life begin to tell and the effects of old age begin to appear. The lardaceous disorder has little to do with either extreme of the mortal course ; it is chiefly associated with the vices of early maturity* and with tubercle and struma, disorders more incident to the young than the old, and in their suppurative form to 6* 130 THE NA TUBAL CURE OF youth rather than childhood. " Among the diseases resulting, or likely to result, from one or other forms of the disease, Dr. Dickinson names the following : dropsy, pneumonia, pleurisy, peritonitis, bronchitis [before mentioned] ; pericarditis, endocarditis, hyper- trophy of the heart, with cardio-vascular thickening, [heart " diseases''] ; hemorrhagic accidents [bursting of blood-vessels — apoplexy] depending as they do upon structural changes of the vessels ; diarrhoea. SOME OTHER SYMPTOMS. Nasal catarrh ; the radical suppression of this dis- charge is likely to be followed by serious if not fatal kidney disease.* (To remove the former by removing its cause, thus rendering the discharge unnecessary, is quite* another thing). Hence the danger of using so- called catarrh remedies, or of adopting any specific local treatment: they are either inert or injurious. * As illustrating this point I will mention the case of M. K., of Troy, N. Y., — a case of successful (?) self -treatment for catarrh. This patient had for a dozen or more years suffered with nasal catarrh, and had tried most of the advertised "specifics" without avail; in fact, the disorder steadily in- creased. At last, the twice daily snuffing of slightly soapy water, for some weeks, "cured" him, as he said; but simultaneously with the suppression of the catarrhal discharge there resulted (without, however, any thought of connecting the two events, in the mind of the patient) an excessive flow of urine, extreme thirst, etc., etc. ; in short, true diabetes. In this case great relief was experienced from an exclusive diet of skim-milk for five months, the patient swallowing nothing else for that length of time, except two table- spoonfuls, daily, of wheat-bran thoroughly chewed, "for the bowels." At the end of the five months the patient weighed 210 lbs. This he realized as excessive, and my attention being directed to the case at this point, the pa- tient at my suggestion adopted the bread and fruit diet — discontinuing the skim-milk and bran — and gradually reducing his weight by moderate diet and increased exercise, went on to a complete recovery. BRIGHT' S DISEASE. 131 Erysipelatous inflammation of the dropsical limbs ; "Vomiting may happen at any stage, even the earliest ; it is often incontrollable." Head symptoms, which oc- cur in the more prolonged forms of the complaint, are usually of a convulsive kind, whereas, in acute cases, coma is apt to set in without any such prelude. Epi- leptic seizures may be preceded by pain in the head, drowsiness, or peculiarity of manner, or may occur without any premonitory sign. Says Dr. Dickinson : " The gouty habit, from whatever circumstance it arise, is one of the more obvious and immediate conditions to which granular disease of the kidneys can be traced." .*.-." The disease is a frequent result of gout ; this is by far the most important fact in its etiology. It is one of the results of the gouty diathesis (see Rheumatism), and may precede or follow the external manifesta- tions. .... It is scarcely necessary to insist .... that the gouty condition comes first." The fact is that there is a process of degeneration going on- throughout the entire structure of the man, even to the last tissue, and the symptoms are all indicative of this ; and this is rribre or less strictly true of all dis- orders. The naming and classifying of u diseases" is calculated to mystify and mislead : sickness is the proper term for describing them all ; self-abuse, in the broadest sense of the word, is the cause of them ; and obedience to law, the only means of prevention or cure. I hold that the gouty, the rheumatic, the stru- mous, the " colds," and all other diatheses, are prac- 132 THE NATURAL CURE. tically unimportant distinctions. The technical differ- ence is, of course, well understood and admitted. In any event, it is certain that the course of living best suited to prevent one, is also best adapted to pre- vent or remove all. For all practical purposes, how- ever, they may be classed together ; and whoever desires, either for themselves or their children, exemp- tion frorfl, or the alleviation of, suffering, have only to adopt a pure mode of living in order to escape, or emerge from, the disease diathesis. Note. — The limits of this work forbid an extended consideration of the influence of this or that occupation in promoting this disease ; nor is it, in my estimation, essential. The trades must go on, regardless of their influ- ence upon health. There must, for example, be painters, plumbers, com- positors, tin-workers, etc., even though the absorption of lead does tend to produce the gouty condition and, so, a predisposition to renal disease. A sufficient degree of care in other directions would enable this class to lood made from impure materials : (1) in part from food depleted by cooking or improper cooking, (2) in part from substances which, as all are agreed, can be " indulged in " only to a limited ex- tent (who can define the limit?), (3) in great measure, from fermented, instead of well-digested food ; — and having thus built up "fossil" bodies (still more fossil- ized by the use of unnatural drinks which u prevent * Charles D. Hunter, M.D., F.C.S., in Herald of Health. 1 84 THE NATURAL CURE. the waste of tissue "), there must be sickness. There is no escape from it, except by a " right about face." The zymotic, and the various acute diseases, so called, are in point of fact acute remedies for chronic disease. CHAPTER XII. WHEAT-MEAL VS. " ENTIRE FLOUR." Without doubt, certain brands of " whole-wheat flour," so called, are a great improvement over the article in universal demand among poor and rich alike, the white flour of commerce, in this : they are, when made by honest manufacturers, less impover- ished than the white flours. In public and in pri- vate, I have advised their use instead of white flour, but solely upon the ground that the wheat is less robbed of certain of its invaluable constituents in the former ; but I can not conceive it possible to separate the hull from the kernel without real loss, even if the hull were, in itself, objectionable, which, so far from being true, is, in my opinion, a mistake and a very serious one. The theory upon which the objection to the outside coat of the grain rests, is that this coat is composed of woody fiber, entirely indigestible and devoid of nutritive matters, and, worst of all, say these honest objectors, the hulls are coarse, sharp- edged, and irritating to the stomach and intestines, and therefore injurious in their action, especially in the case of " sensitive and delicately organized in- dividuals." I will not stop to discuss the question as (185) 1 86 THE NATURAL CURE. to the propriety of the phrase sensitive and delicately organized, as applied to the class of poor, suffering wretches who by reason of their gross habits — and I mean simply the dietetic habits of the people, not the mechanic, the artisan, the small trader, nor yet the factory hand, nor the wretched poor, but the human race, from the kings, queens, and presidents all along the line — who by reason, I repeat, of the universal system of diet, have become dyspeptic. I can not, however, forbear the remark, that the most sensitive and delicately organized individuals, among the most noble of all animals next to man, — and in some as- pects far superior to him, — the horse, in his finest and most delicate state, finds a perfect food in the whole grain, chewing it himself. I may be, in the minds of some, weakening my argument by comparing the di- gestive apparatus of man with that of the horse, but I am desirous of impressing upon the minds of my readers the well-known but imperfectly considered fact, that our horse-fanciers, — who dote on their hun- dred-thousand-dollar animals, and who would place before them the most costly and complicated dishes, certainly would feed them on the finest and whitest of flour," — " Imperial Granum" even, at drug-store prices, if it were desirable, or even not pernicious in a health point of view, — really keep their dearest pets on bread and water ; and that, because of this, and the absence of all the hot, stimulating articles, solid or fluid, in- dulged in by their owners, and their regular and mod- erate diet of uncooked food, and their superior hy- giene in certain essential matters, our thorough-bred WHEAT-MEAL VS. "ENTIRE FLOUR." 187 horses are generally saved from becoming fat, sick, mean, wheezy, or dyspeptic, like their masters and mistresses, men, women, and children. We know that the microscope shows up the ragged edges of the hulls and gives them a fearful aspect ; but if the microscope could reasgm, and if it was given to arguing all questions submitted to it, I fancy it would speedily silence these objections to wheat-meal, so far as they rest upon the matter of the coarseness and the irritating capacity of the hull, by asking the microscopist to take a little glance at the stomach it- self: an internal view of the digestive tract would disclose the fact that, even in the case of the most " sensitive and finely organized " subject, the lining of the stomach, for example, bears a stronger resem- blance to a quartz mill than do these terrible hulls to sticks and stones. The trouble has been with those who seek to improve too much over Nature's meth- ods, and especially is this the case in the question under discussion, they have reasoned mainly from one side of the question. Machinery has accomplished no end of good things, and without doubt has even greater victories yet in store, in its legitimate field ; but that field is not in the line of improving on the food that Nature provides for us humans. It can and does improve over the old methods of sowing, reap- ing, threshing, and cleansing the various grains — no one desires to dispute this ; but when the ripe, clean kernel of wheat, for instance, is placed before us, the office of machinery is ended, except so far as crushing the grain for those whose teeth or temper will not ad- 1 88 THE NATURAL CURE. mit of chewing it. A shrewd though illiterate stable- keeper said to me, in advocating whole, instead of cracked corn for horses and cattle, " it gets the juice of their teeth, and does them twice as much good. Give them meal, or cracked corn, and they don't have to chew it long enough to get the right action of the saliva." People who neglect the most obvious hygienic rules, thereby bringing upon themselves sickness and pain, and search for special articles of diet that may seem to promise relief, remind me of a junk-dealer who would pass by old stoves, pots, kettles, and crowbars, and search for a needle in a hay-stack ! The theory of the anti-wheat-meal men seems plausible at first sight, and it has been held, temporarily, by some very sound men ; but one after another these have dropped it as untenable. To be sure, the ranks are kept full by new recruits, who join faster than the thinkers fall out. There are a thousand dyspeptics for every discerning man, and, in any event, all such — all persons, in fact, are to be congratulated when they adopt a compro- mise in the shape of fine flour which claims to give them all the essential elements of the wheat, and yet save their " delicate " and sensitive stomachs needless labor and irritation. But I find that the class who are saving lives constantly, hold to the entire meal as the only means of securing perfect bread — the staff of life. Says Oswald : " We can not breathe pure oxygen. For analogous reasons bran flour [whole meal] makes better bread than bolted flour; meat and saccharine WHEAT-MEAL VS. "ENTIRE FLOUR." 189 fruits are healthier than meat extracts and pure glu- cose. In short, artificial extracts and compounds are, on the whole, less wholesome than the palatable products of nature. In the case of bran-flour and certain fruits with a large percentage of wholly innu- tritious matter, chemistry fails to account for this fact, but biology suggests the mediate cause : the normal type of our physical constitution dates from a period when the digestive organs of our (frugivorous) ances- tors adapted themselves to such food — a period com- pared with whose duration the age of grist-mills and made dishes is but of yesterday." This doctoring of the cereals can never prove of service in the end, except to the manufacturers and dealers ; these " preparations/' however honestly made, and supposing for argument's sake that the machinery accomplishes what the manufacturers in- tend, will never, in and of themselves, — i. e., except so far as they take the place of white flour — prove beneficial to mankind, and* least of all to sick people, valetudinarians, and the sedentary classes, — the very ones who need the best. Imagine a constipated dyspeptic, with a heavy fur coat on his tongue, and, of course, a heavier one on the lining of his stom- ach — his entire alimentary canal so covered with this morbid growth that digestion and absorption arc well-nigh prohibited — alarmed lest the microscopic particles of wheat-hulls should injure his delicate and sensitive inwards ! " Delicate ! " lk sensitive ! " why, it takes half a cupful of salts to move them, and that but faintly, while a pint of strong coffee makes no 190 THE NATURAL CURE. impression ; when if they were even normally sensitive a tablespoonful of the former, or a single cup of the latter, would purge them violently. Sensitive ! they are dead, or at least dying. Why, for this class of pa- tients, I would sooner add the straw than remove the hull, as better calculated, by all odds, to meet the necessities of their condition. On the other hand, when the disease assumes the opposite form — when the tongue is raw, and the intestinal tract acutely in- flamed, and from any cause preternaturally sensitive — there is but one thing in the Materia Medica of Nature that is absolutely fit to swallow, and that is pure water. (See Chronic Dyspepsia.) It matters not what else is comforting, temporarily, — medicine, gruel, beef-tea, milk, or what not, — the comfort and advantage are derived solely from the water, which constitutes three-fourths to nine-tenths of the whole ; the other elements being injurious, and, often enough, fatal, preventing as they do the healing of the inflamed mucous membrane. CHAPTER XIII. FRUIT. It is with difficulty that one who comprehends the question can restrain his impatience when people talk about the danger of indulging in fruit in summer or at any other season. " Better leave an order on the doctor's slate/' says the would-be wit, when his friend passes with a watermelon or some early apples or peaches. As spring and summer come along, fruit is altogether natural, even if it does come from a little further South. That is one of the advantages of having railroads. These unwise people who dare not eat fruit, or eat it sparingly, while they stick to their winter diet of meat, grease, pastry, c^jTee, etc., are the ones who have the cholera morbus and other equally ridiculous things. It sometimes happens that these good people have had a " scare " in this fashion : one eats an excessive meal of fat and lean meats, old vegetables, with plenty of gravy, etc., all hot and heating, and calculated to create a febrile condition of the system, and insure an " attack " of indigestion. He has also eaten a piece of watermelon or other fruit — the only pure, natural substance appropriate for the time he has swallowed for the day. If, under (191) 1 9 2 THE NATURAL CURE, these circumstances, he is routed at midnight, he de- clares he will never eat another piece of melon as long as he lives! It may be that the fruit, if he ate liberally of it, was the exciting cause of the clear- ing out that otherwise might not have taken place just then ; if so, he should congratulate himself that he has been saved a later attack that might have cost him his life. Had he eaten double the quantity of fruit on an empty stomach, providing his system was in decent condition, there would have been no startling consequences. The stomach which refuses to accept raw fruit, or with which it does not " agree," is like that of the drunkard which rebels against pure water. When anyone has become diseased to that degree the sooner he begins to reform his habits the better. In 1863 I was captured by the Confederates and marched out of Brazier City, La., and taken to Shreveport. When captured, I had diarrhoea — the result of a flesh-food diet, wine, and all the " good things of life." The disease became chronic, and I was nearj^ying. The melon season was on (it was in July), and in sheer desperation, ignorant of the bene- fits to result from it, rather expecting disaster, I ate freely of watermelon. For eight or ten days I took no other food or drink, but with this I filled myself twice a day, and a return to perfect health was the result ; all trace of bowel trouble had disappeared. I have since had many opportunities for observing the benefit arising from the use of watermelon and nothing else, in diarrhoea, upon various persons, young and old, and I have never observed any harmful results FRUIT. 193 from its use ; though it is often made the scapegoat, as indicated above. In a certain little borough in a neighboring State there was little or no fruit, not even apples, to any amount. There was a great deal of sickness every summer— diarrhoea, dysentery, fevers, etc. One enter- prising resident planted an orchard — a generous one in size — and its owner was generous also. He didn't watch the neighbors' children very closely — not as closely as he did his own — and true to boys' instincts they hooked apples, green apples, little bits of apples, hard and sour, and they ate them freely. The chil- dren of the owner of that orchard did not eat green apples, for their father, although believing in fruit, thought it must be ripe to be " healthy." His chil- dren had the regularly recurring summer complaints, but the little apple-stealers did not. Without doubt fruit is more truly wholesome ripe than green ; and I would here remark, that the craving for vegetable acids which these boys had, and which most children experience, would not be felt if they were properly fed at home. Still, one may eat too much even of fruit : " gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at night/' might better be changed to diamonds, gold, and silver; and but for other considerations, unappreciated by those who fancy that it is " heavy " at eve, there would be a restriction in almost any- thing at the last meal sooner than in fruit. Care- ful observers have remarked that fruit is a prophy- lactic, and is also curative, taken on an empty stomach but is likely to promote indigestion if added to a I 9 4 THE NATURAL CURE. hearty meal of mixed food."* This is one way of say^ ing : after having already over-eaten, or having eaten enough, eat nothing more. Surely any kind of fruit added would be less injurious than to swallow another plate of the soup, fish, or meat. The old Roman gluttons used to take an emetic after dinner; and in this country it has been the custom in times past with some, and it is not altogether obsolete even now, to take a " dinner-pill " before or after the principal meal. The morning draught of " seltzer " or other laxative, so common at the present day, serves the same purpose ; and those people who, after obstinate constipation, feel comparatively happy over a violent purging from some form of artificial physic, are the ones who warn against using much fruit, because, upon some occa- sion, it may have performed a similar service, though without any of the injurious effects of the drugs. In warm weather the diet may well consist largely of fruit and succulent vegetables. Scrofulous children, especially, might live solely on fruit for days together, with great advantage. Such children should live in the open air as much as possible, and their sleeping-rooms should have the most thorough ventilation. If their noses and ears run in consequence of " exposure," never forget that these poisonous matters are better * As before intimated, only the stomach disordered and enervated from the use of hot and stimulating kinds of solid and liquid food, spices and con- diments, refuses to "agree" with pure, ripe fruits. Such a stomach re- quires a fast day, followed by the plainest and most abstemious diet, with a gradually increasing proportion of fruit as the stomach recovers u tone." In all cases fruit requires to be thoroughly masticated, and reduced as nearly as possible to a fluid state before being swallowed. FRUIT. 195 out than in, and that whatever aids in their elimina- tion is curative. A simpler and purer diet will pre- vent the formation of catarrhal or scrofulous matters. Any degree of restriction in the matter of air and ex- ercise can only be counteracted by a corresponding restriction in diet ; but a generous allowance of all three is the safest rule. Sedentary persons, loiter- ers at the mountains or by the sea, can not easily make the proportion of fruit too large, even if during a torrid wave they eat little else. It should be taken at the regular meal hour only, to insure the greatest degree of health and comfort, should be thoroughly masticated, and the quantity may be just short of causing pressure at the kidneys, or flatulency, yet enough to prevent thirst. Three meals might then be indulged in with safety. The heavy dishes — meats, gravies, greasy articles, hot condiments, pastry, hot stimulating drinks — things that even in winter, in this climate, are only tolerated, and that but poorly, are deadly now, as the mortality reports, and lists of those who are said to have succumbed to the heat, attest. Moreover, for every one who pays the penalty with his life, tens of thousands are lying or sitting about, suffering the tortures of the damned, often; and all for a few minutes extra palate-tickling, or unnatural indulgences, rather, — for, leaving out the really unseasonable articles and condi- ments, they might revel in ripe fruits with comparative impunity. He is a poor student in dietetics, a thought- less observer, even, who can not so regulate his eating as to regard summer as the most agreeable season of ig6 THE NATURAL CURE. the year, — the most comfortable, — who can not bid defiance to the heated term and laugh at the danger of " sunstroke " though running a foot-race under the noonday sun. Calorific food, superadded to the pre- disposition already existing, is the real source of these strokes in every instance, the external heat fur- nishing, to be sure, the " last straw." CHAPTER XIV. THE ONE-MEAL SYSTEM. In this note I propose to do little more than record a few instances, out of many, of persons who have lived for longer or shorter periods, and continue to live, on one meal a day, and let my readers draw their own inferences, merely remarking that these cases have a very great significance as bearing upon the question of the quantity of food 'best suited to nourish the body and promote health. Dr. Abernethy, a cel- ebrated English physician, affirmed that " one-fourth of all a man eats sustains him ; the balance he retains at his risk"; but his countrymen eat four meals, at least, -r The case of Mrs. Solberg, an emaciated dyspeptic, whose restoration to health was accomplished by the one-meal vegetarian diet and " a change of air " (at home), is mentioned in the chapter on Malaria. S. N. Silver,* of Auburn, Me., a hard-working me- * Mr. Silver is 30 years old and is 6 feet, 2 inches in height. On the three- meal system his greatest weight was 137 pounds. For two years past, on the new plan, he has weighed from 150 to 160 pounds, according to his work. When he works hard he eats more, and gains in weight ; when his work is light he eats light and his weight falls off correspondingly. This illustrates a truly physiological diet. It should always be thus with man and the do- (197) 1 98 THE NA TURAL C URE. chanic, has, for upwards of three years, lived on the one-meal-a-day plan. He eats at night, after resting sufficiently from his day's work. He never eats more than seven meals per week, not even so much as an apple between meals ; and on Sundays, unless he takes considerable exercise, his " meal " consists of fruit only — three or four apples, for example. He is a typically healthy young man, and has not in three years expe- rienced a moment of physical inconvenience. He is a vegetarian, and lives wholly on simple, pure food, chiefly bread and fruit. Mrs. Wieman, a sister of the above, has, for upwards of a year, taken but one meal a day, although she prepares three hot meals for her husband and several boarders. She does the entire household work for her family, which during the past summer consisted of nine adults. Her one meal (taken at noon because the regular dinner is at that hour and furnishes a better variety) fe no more in amount than her dinner formerly, when she took breakfast and supper in ad- dition. She is a perfect specimen of robust health, and finds that she can now perform with ease an amount of labor which formerly would have been a severe tax, even if possible to accomplish. Her diet mestic animals alike. In practice, however, the reverse is the rule : the weight increases during leisure and decreases when hard worably become, practically, vegetarians and, withal, use a large proportion of bread, a pure nutrient, instead of flesh, a nutro-stimulant. The amount of food taken, under any circumstances, will depend largely upon one's views as to the true office of eating. In the case of a certain class of dyspeptics who, while going to the table three times every day, yet do not eat, all told, a single satisfactory meal ; who in the entire year, perhaps, scarcely know the comfort of eating a full meal, and who live on in this manner year after year, the one-meal system would banish their nausea and lack of appetite within a reasonable time, and, in some instances, such persons would eat, and with a relish long unknown to them, more food every day than they now force down at their three or more attempts at eating. There would also result a corre- sponding improvement in their general health, more especially if this reform were accompanied by others, when needed, ks to fresh air and exercise. Says Dr. Nichols, of London, who speaks with knowledge, from having tested it : " The one-meal-a- day system will largely increase any person's working capacity." Note. — One item well worth considering, especially by the laboring: classes who find it so difficult to support a little family on $S or $10 per week, while imitating the dietetic habits of their employers : Dr. T. L. Nichols, named above, experimenting as to cost of living, has lived week in and week out, in London, at a cost (for food) of sixty or eighty cents per week (taken two meals then), maintaining full vigor, and weight, and per- forming arduous literary labors, combined with a somewhat active mode of life. Personally, the author was never more vigorous or better fitted for hard work, — in short, better nourished, — than when living for several months on the i-meal plan and on a diet of unleavened Graham gems and fruit, the total cost of which was less than ten cents per day. CHAPTER XV. THE NATURAL DIET * As the result of personal experience, my mind having been called to the subject by the success- ful experiment — if, indeed, it can be regarded as an experiment, — of a very intelligent and worthy fam- ily in Southern California, I am convinced that the " natural diet," — uncooked cerealsf and fruit, — is the * This subject having been treated in a most masterly manner by Prof. Schlickeysen, of Germany — considering fully the chemical and ana- tomical theories, and presenting the anthropological, the physiological, and the dietetical arguments so clearly and convincingly — I design here merely to give a few practical tests illustrating the advantages of a truly natural and pure diet, while recommending every devout student of this subject, every conscientious and thoughtful person to procure the work, entitled Fruit and Bread, — translated from the German by Dr. Holbrook, and pub- lished by M. L. Holbrook & Co., New York, — and read it for himself. t Even as late as the time of the Roman republic, the baking or other cooking of grain was regarded as injurious. When the grains are first broken, but not finely ground, they may be eaten with fruit, if one gradually accustom himself to it. Let it not be said that this is going too far, for in the recognition and application of truth we can not go too far ; rather have those gone too far who have deviated from this metnod. The difference between pure cracked wheat and the bread is always considerable. The bread consumes in its digestion [a part of] the power which itself supplies, while the wheat not only nourishes, but, like fresh fruit, increases the vital strength. — Frztit and Bread, p. 163. " The vitality stored up in uncooked plants and fruits is greatly impaired by all our culinary processes." — Ibid., p. 116. "Animals in a state of nature, subsisting upon their own chosen foods. (206) THE NATURAL DIET 207 diet par excellence, as regards strict purity, digesti- bility, and efficiency. Not only is much less of it required to maintain the normal weight and strength, but it is in other regards superior. One thought I will suggest, in this connection, and one which is more significant, I believe, than many persons would at first consider : raw grain, as all are aware, will " keep " indefinitely under fair conditions ; while cooked, it " spoils " in a day or two. The former is more readily and more thoroughly preserved from undesirable changes in the alimentary canal ; hence less liability of indigestion. Such portions of whole grain as may be swallowed without mastication, will pass on and out without danger of the putre- factive changes which result from an excess, or de- ficient mastication of cooked food. Regarding the gustatory pleasure to be derived from a diet of this sort, while it is less seductive to the abnormal appe- tite, still, even here, no individual really needing food would find this disagreeable, though reference were made solely to whole wheat, masticated with the aid of good teeth ; or to the meal, mixed with nice fruit juices or the fruits themselves, when, from unnatural living, the teeth are badly decayed. Our teeth would not fail us if, from childhood, we used them, and our are capable of fully digesting the nutritive elements, leaving only an i no (Ten- sive residue, while the unsuitable character of human foods is sufficiently in- dicated by the horrible and disease-breeding product which they yield. — IHd. n " Uncooked fruits, especially, excite the mind to its highest activity. After eating them we experience an inclination to vigorous exercise, and also an increased capacity for study and all mental work ; while cooked food causes a feeling of satiety and sluggishness." — Hid. 208 THE NA TURAL CURE. food furnished the material to build and maintain them. Were I to enumerate the foods at present eaten raw by all of our millions of people, less surprise would be felt by my readers at the suggestion of re- stricting one's diet to such articles as are agreeable in their natural state. Take, for example, apples, pears, peaches, grapes, oranges, etc. ; all of the plums ; ba- nanas, dates, figs, raisins ; cabbage, lettuce, celery, rad- ishes, etc. ; and to this list might well be added sweet corn, and the common variety of green corn, and peas ; few people but find the latter delicious to their taste, and the corn is as much more crisp and juicy and wholesome raw than cooked, as are peaches or pears. I know individuals who were never fond of corn, would never eat it until happening to try a fresh young ear au naturel, who now use it freely every summer. This would be the case with very many, if not most people, if their prejudices were cast aside. I have named only a few articles of a few classes, but any one can extend the list at pleasure, adding wal- nuts, almonds, filberts, etc., etc. Unfortunately these raw foods have been commonly used as surfeit dishes, delicious articles that we can eat after having already over-eaten, and when more steak, potatoes, and gravy, or pastry, would, perhaps, send a shudder through- out the frame, and, often enough, w T hen an emetic would be a more wholesome dessert than even walnuts and raisins. Let any one, first arranging for a clean stomach by skipping supper the previous night, try a breakfast consisting of a couple of bananas, one or THE NATURAL DIET, 209 two dozen walnuts (or any sort preferred), with a handful of nice raisins, — both the nuts and raisins being thoroughly masticated, the latter to the point of well crushing the stones, — ending, or beginning, the seance with oranges, and, at night, the second and last meal, of favorite fruits, beginning with a small portion of "oat groats" or wheat, (of course any other choice may be made, a dozen, or a score, indeed, from week to week,) taking care to exercise enough to " earn " his food,* and see if this principle of alimentation will not cure his disorders, whatever they may be. It would end the wretched business of "colds" and "hay-fever" which, according to the Boston Herald, a noted American divine says, " will make a man for- get his God, the Bible, and everything else — but his disease." Even the common hygienic diet, so called, and abstemious living, would make such blasphemy impossible, and would make a better man of the great London preacher, for example, — Mr. Spurgeon, — who recently wrote to a friend, and, apparently without the least shamefacedness : " My old disorder has come upon me like an armed man and laid me low. I can not walk or even stand, and the pain renders it difficult to think consecutively upon any subject/' And this with reference to a disorder (the gout) caused by eating and drinking unwholesomely — the injury being augmented, directly and indirectly, by the use of tobacco or wine. Mr. Spurgeon's weight is fifty, if not seventy-five pounds greater than is nor- * " Live on sixpence a day and earn it," was the " favorite prescription" of a famous London physician. 2 io THE NA TURAL CURE. mal for him, considering fully his natural physique, and the use he makes of his muscular system. He may be in the habit of restricting his appetite ; he may eat much less than most of his associates, and even be esteemed a small eater and very abstemious ; nevertheless his form is gross, and he has the gout- two unimpeachable witnesses to the truth of my position. " We can not doubt," says Dr. Oswald, " that the highest degree of health could only be attained by strict conformity to Haller's* rule, z>., by subsisting exclusively on the pure and unchanged products of Nature. This view is indorsed (indirectly) in the writ- ings of Drs. Alcott, Bernard, Schlemmer, Hall, and Dio Lewis, and directly by Schrodt, Jules Virey, and others. In the tropics such a mode of life would not imply anything like asceticism : a meal of milk and three or four kinds of sweet fruits, fresh dates, banan- as, and grapes, would not clash with the still higher rule, that eating, like every other natural function, should be a pleasure and not a penance. Heat de- stroys the delicate flavor of many fruits, and makes others indigestible by coagulating their albumen. But/' continues this authority, — and I am not disposed * Albrecht Von Haller, M.D., F.R.S., the father of the science of phys- iology, born at Berne, Oct. 18, 1708 ; . . . . practiced medicine with great applause at Berne, 1729-36 ; . . . . became physician to the King of En- gland 1739. He was a voluminous writer on physiology, anatomy, botany, surgery, and practical medicine ; author of ... . almost an incredible number of reviews and scientific papers. His hypotheses were .... ad- mirable for their scientific spirit, and for the great stimulus which they gave to physiological study throughout Europe. — Encyclopedia. THE NA TURAL DIE % 2 1 1 to dispute the soundness of the position, speaking generally (as, indeed, Dr. Oswald, himself, was speak- ing), — "in the frigid latitudes, where we have to dry and garner many vegetable products in order to survive the unproductive season, the process of cook- ing [some classes of] our food has advantages which fully outweigh such objections." To the very rational assumption that, " few men with post-diluvian teeth would agree with Dr. Schlemmer that hard grain is preferable to bread," I would reply, that for people who could not or would not grind their own grist, as do our most robust animals — well nourished, but hard-working draught or road horses — the whole- wheat meal, freshly and coarsely ground, with a light dressing of rich milk,* or, more wholesome still, eaten with nuts and thoroughly masticated, is more deli- cious than bread, even if made from the same quality of Graham. If the Graham be taken dry, with a few raisins at each mouthful, it would require a fine taste to distinguish between this and the walnuts and rai- sins so generally acceptable to epicures. If the milk dressing is used, it should simply be poured over the (unsifted) Graham, and not made into a batter. With a dish of Graham as described, and such fruit as can usually be obtained all the year round, either fresh or (in winter) dried, as apples, raisins, dates, figs,f prunes (the last, like dried apples, peaches, etc., * See note 4 in Appendix, p. 280. t These three — raisins, dates, figs,— containing as they do in their natural state, about 14, 58 and 62 per cent., respectively, of sugar, require no addi- tion of saccharine matters to ''preserve " them ; and, accordingly, they con- stitute, as we find them in the market, a perfectly natural and wholesome food, taken in due proportion, with grain and the various nuts. 2 1 2 THE NA TURAL C URE. soaked not overmuch, but until tender), one may make a meal sufficiently delicious, and at the same time absolutely pure — if the milk is derived from a healthy creature. And here I would remark, that al- though cow's milk is a strictly natural food for the calf only, still, if the cow be properly fed (-not "driven,"* as is the custom in dairies) and the milk properly cared for — kept free from air vitiated by the emanations of decaying vegetables, meats, or other source of impurity, but open\ in a pure atmosphere — few need abstain altogether from this most delicious food. Nevertheless, no one may feel at liberty to drink milk copiously, as water: calves, babies, etc., whose natural food it is, take it slowly and " chew " it thoroughly ! We may well take a hint from this. (See Biliousness.) In making the change from cooked to uncooked food, the unassisted novice will experience more or less inconvenience, usually ; and this will arise from one of three causes ; perhaps two or even all three causes will combine to create the uneasi- ness (and indigestion, even, sometimes) experienced : * A phrase used to describe the process of feeding excessively to produce an abnormal (low of milk. Under this practice the cows soon become tuber- culous ("consumptive") ; and it is said that they become useless after three or four years, on an average : they are "driven to death," unless disposed of just prior to their decline. Nursing mothers often suffer from this disease, while the infant fattens and becomes sick from overfeeding. t Kept in a close vessel, milk soon becomes foul ; and after being thus enclosed requires considerable stirring to aerate it, when it again acquires its normal flavor. Cistern water treated to an occasional deep stirring will remain sweet ; and when the water in a cistern has become devitalized for want of air simply, it can be reclaimed readily in the above manner. THE NA TURAL DIET 2 1 3 (1) the stomach, adapted, so far as possible, to the digestion of cooked foods, requires some time (and experience or practice) to adapt itself to the new order of things,* hence indigestion, varied in extent according (a) to the abruptness of the change, and (&) the quantity of the new food taken ; (2) accustomed to distention from the bulky charac- ter of the old diet, if only a physiological ration of the pure and more nutritious food be swallowed, the stomach misses the stimulus of distention : time will be required (in some cases) for the stomach to re- model itself as regards size — unless a large proportion of fruitf is used in conjunction with the cereals. Some dyspeptics, to be sure, by their " mincing " diet occasioned by nausea and lack of appetite, seem to have reduced the size of their stomachs, even below the * It has been observed that cows are temporarily affected adversely by any change from their established diet — give less milk, at first, when grain is added to their pasture rations, as well as when they are deprived of an ac- customed feed of grain. " The effect is due to the action of the stomach, to adapt its character to the digestion of an established food. The food may change suddenly, but the action of the stomach can only change slowly, and hence defective digestion follows." — {National Live Stock Journal). With humans, as has been already remarked, a change from a very unwhole- some to the purest system of diet may, at first, result in defective digestion ; but if the change be made discreetly the final result will assuredly be as sat- isfactory as that which follows a favorable modification of the cow's diet. f Whenever, in making the change under consideration, flatulency or pressure at the kidney follows the use of fruit, the quantity habitually taken should be lessened. There is a temptation always to continue the habitual distention of the stomach by the use of too much fruit at first. The system accustomed to a small amount of fruit, can not immediately adapt itself to an unusual quantity : all changes should be somewhat gradual, not neces- sarily by the continued use of any unwholesome substance, but with relation to the manner 0/ adopting the new regimen. 214 THE NATURAL CURE. normal dimensions of that organ ; (3) the uncooked grain being more nutritious than the bread formed from it (and especially than bread made from wheat starch — "white bread "), one may readily take an overdose if the wheat meal be used and dressed with milk ; but if the whole grain be employed he will be content with a modest ration ; the new exercise of chewing — putting the teeth to their normal use — soon wearies the muscles of the face, and he will be tempted to pass to the " second course " — the fruit — quite early in the engagement. The amount of grain food necessary to thoroughly nutrify the body, is comparatively small. In the form of bread, we are apt to eat altogether too much. But given pure food, and each individual may be safely left to de- cide the proportion of grain, fruit, and water to suit his own case ; the point is to maintain strength and avoid flatulence, and all other symptoms of indiges- tion. At the world-famed " Grape Cures " (for dyspepsia and its sequel, consumption), the diet during " the season," consists almost exclusively of ripe grapes : the patients stroll about the vineyards, and pick and eat. During the balance of the year the diet is composed chiefly of fruit, with a portion of cooked cereals. But we may obtain a more definite lesson from the experience of Mr. and Mrs. Hinde and their children. For nearly five years, this family, consisting of father, mother, and four children, have lived on this truly natural diet. They are very intellectual and refined THE NA TURAL DIET. 2 1 5 m people. Their home is in Southern California. They have enjoyed typical health during these five years ; the mother, indeed, recovered her health by means of this diet, having failed, under medical treatment, to obtain relief from serious disorders which would be popularly and medically described as " incident to her sex/' but which, when they exist, are everywhere and always incident to violation of law. Every trace of her disorder disappeared during this lady's first year of living on uncooked food and outdoor air, and no vestige of her " weaknesses " has returned. The members of this family all live very active lives ; they take two meals, — morning and afternoon, — a small amount of the cereals, and a large proportion of fruit of various kinds. Our national pastime-luncheon, the ubiquitous peanut, forms a part of their regular dietary. It is a very nutritious vegetable, and, cer- tainly, if agreeable enough, as we know it is, to take a prominent part in the sensual enjoyment of a very large class, who feel that life is not worth living un- less much of their leisure time is spent in palate-tick- ling, it can not be sneered at as " one of the l messes' of those peculiar people," (formerly a common remark about hygienists, some of whom have, without doubt, advocated an unnatural asceticism.) I will make a few- brief extracts from letters written by the lady in ques- tion, at, and after the time I was living on uncooked food. As will be seen, the work was altogether new to me, and I went astray at first, regarding the proportions of grain and fruit : "Your cupful of grain/' she writes, " is more than double what my husband takes, and I 2i6 THE NATURAL CURE. use still less ; but we eat very much more fresh fruit than you do." .... "I had intended to say in my last letter, that some people object to so much cold food, especially in the morning. I did not at all like it myself, at first, being always used to l a» good cup of tea ' the first thing ; however, use soon becomes second nature, and I prefer it now. In winter, when the apples or melons seem really cold, I bring them to a moderately cool temperature by warming slight- ly — the same with tomatoes : of these last, quite a lot have ripened up, although it is mid-winter, (Feb. 6, '8 1.) We find that too much nut-iood causes indiges- tion,* and it is better to combine a little vegetable- food always, if possible." ......" One little incident in our lives here, may interest you : our oldest daugh- ter, aged 13, has just been on a visit to some friends — the family of a doctor of the old school. His wife remarked one day that she liked the uncooked food very much, and would always use it, only she ate ' what the others did, to keep them company/ Alice replied (and you may imagine how proud I felt when it was repeated to me by the doctor's daughter), * I am sure you do not understand the importance of it, then ! ' You would be surprised to see how firm the children are : they could not, by any kind of bribery, I believe, be induced to swerve one iota from the true principles upon which we live, and they have been severely tested, too." I regret to say that a year after the above was written, these people decided to test * The oily nuts are nutritious, and a small proportion, only, should be eaten, except in cold weather. THE NA TURAL DIET, 2 1 7 once more the influence of cooking their food ; al- though it may furnish valuable evidence, and I predict their return to the natural diet with renewed faith Now (Sept. 1, 1882), after a few months' use of arti- ficially prepared food (their diet is still very simple ; they use no animal food, nor fancy dishes, no pastry, nor hot drinks), such sentences as the following are quite significant : " Well, both my husband and my- self think it possible there may be more ' ailments* from the use of cooked food, but there is more enjoy- ment too, and we shall have to take the bitter and the sweet together." . . . . " I know it [uncooked food] increases the spiritual perceptions greatly." * . . . . "I still believe it would be a sure preventive of disease ; but few, however, are prepared to adopt such an ex- treme mode of living." Once more: "The experi- ment has done us good, I am sure ; and I feel glad of the lessons I have learned through it. I don't think I shall ever be what I was before using it." [i. e., sickly]. Of this we can, of course, judge better later on. From an earlier letter, written in January (the 30th), 1 88 1, and while they were enjoying the natural diet for the fourth year, I make a few extracts : " Its effects are truly wonderful, and far exceed my expectations- .... The sequel has proved that it not only ensures health to those already healthy, but eradicates former weaknesses when these exist ; for instance, rheuma- tism and ' sciatica/ from which I used to suffer — both have left me, I think never to return. The children * I desire to call the attention and fasten it for a moment upon this feature of the case. 10 2i8 THE NATURAL CURE, frequently suffered with toothache, and occasionally with earache ; now they are never troubled. I believe the hot food destroys the teeth, and renders the body generally more susceptible of taking colds. I used to take cold on the slightest exposure ; now I don't know what it is to have one. And sore throat was sure to follow a cold ; now I am quite exempt, and have been for two years."* Further on, and after describing the two-years-old baby's remarkable health and perfect appetite : " He never causes me the least trouble ; is always ready to eat a good breakfast, taking just what we do, and is truly a marvel of sweet infant life." After a brief * With reference to the prophylactic and curative effects of this diet I quote from " Vegetarian Life in Germany : A Paper, by a Lady Member of the German Vegetarian Society, read 15th Jan., 1881, at Manchester, EngZa?id, and reprinted by request" " Others, especially those whose occupations afford little or no exercise, as writers, artists, official persons, etc., prefer from time to time to live upon fruits alone, in order to clear their blood and thus prevent illness. Dr. Richard Nagel, of Burman, was one of the first to try such a cure, and with brilliant success. As he is a learned man, and his health rules are accepted by most German vegetarians, I take the liberty to give you an abridged translation of them : " I. Take often during the day a drink of pure cool fresh water; rain- water is best. Vegetarians who live plainly and upon fruits only, have very little thirst. u II. Wash the whole body with cool fresh water every morning before breakfast ; pooAlooded persons may use in winter a little warm, but never hot water. " III. All kinds of sweet fruits and roots are to be commended in an un- cooked form. These are so nourishing that we can live upon fruit alone. (Dr. Nagel, himself, so lived in 1S71, from February 25th to April 7th, that is during forty-one winter days, and you know that our German winter is much colder than yours. During this time he was extremely well, and worked hard as a physician and writer)." THE NATURAL DIET, 219 reference to the persecutions received from their neighbors at the first :....." But that is nothing ; we have lived it all down, and we are in better health to-day, all of us, than any family about, for many a mile. Why, they are all complaining of colds now, and yet we have the loveliest climate and the most delightful atmosphere under the sun. We never have any colds, or neuralgia, or rheumatism. Whatever may be said in derision of our diet, and, of course, there are more or less remarks, we have the best of it anyway ; and, oh, the load of expense, labor and care and anxiety that is removed ! The children are har- monious and happy, devoting their spare time to use- ful pursuits — we all have so much more spare time now," etc., etc. From another letter : " . . . . But I must hasten to answer your queries. 1st. As to how we prepare our food in winter. We have apples, raisins, oranges, and figs, which need no preparation. Wheat and rye we grind first in a large mill and finish off in a spice mill, and usually eat it dry with juicy fruits. I can eat rye, apples, nuts, and raisins, and make a good meal. We confine our- selves to what we raise here, chiefly because we think it best. We raise our own peanuts, and if you will take them unroasted, and grind with your grain, you will get a very palatable, strengthening food, alone or with raisins; they contain a very sweet oil which, as we learn, is beginning to be appreciated in England. I prefer the peanuts in this form because they need to be very finely masticated. I can work longer after 220 THE NATURAL CURE. such a breakfast and not feel hungry than anything else I have tried. We have delicious musk-melons now, also water-melons, but the latter are deteriorat- ing, being out of season. Our ripe tomatoes are nearly over; after these are gone we shall use our dried peaches, pears, and apples, merely soaked in cold water until soft — not sloppy. We use rain-water in winter. I make a salad for dinner, often, as follows : lettuce washed and cut small, a few ripe tomatoes peeled and cut up, and one or two green peppers cut fine ; pouring over a dressing of raisin syrup, made by soaking black raisins for twenty-four hours, and strain- ing. This salad I vary by substituting celery for let- tuce. I assure you it is a most healthful dish, and so sweet and nice with rye. We use oatmeal soaked for twelve hours in just enough water to soften it, and then well beaten ; with either raisins [grapes] or dried fruits it is very delicious. I did not at first like rye, but after a little we all came to regard it the sweetest grain we have. The children are very fond of cauli- flower — just the flour part — and green pease, fresh- picked are a great dish with us. Some like radishes and garden cress and a few things of that nature. I prefer fruits with my grain, and we can have them fresh, of some sort, all the year round. Strawberries come in about March — indeed, we have a few even now [February]. I'm going to make a ' natural fruit- cake/ this week, for our little girl's birthday. I shall send a piece by post to Mrs. Page, with full directions for making it. We had one at New Year's, and even those who live on cooked food pronounced it ' as good THE NATURAL DIET. 221 as they ever tasted/ But very little of our time, how- ever, is taken up, usually, with the preparation of oui food ; only, on special occasions, v/e arnuse ourselves a little in such ways, for the children's sake. At all times, however, we have a good variety of food ; in fact, too much, I sometimes think. We eat more in quantity than others, but a large proportion is fruit, which furnishes all our liquid food except fresh water. We all enjoy our food thoroughly ; the chil- dren never ask for anything between meals [two meals only], only baby comes as regularly as possible for an apple at half-past eleven — of course he gets it." The following letter from a veteran hygienist refers to the family whose history I have been relating. My dear Dr. Page : Your letter of February 13th, enclosing letters from Mr. and Mrs. Hinde for us to read and to make extracts from for The Laws, came duly to hand. I have read them with great interest, for they do but add to my conviction that, as yet, the divinely ordained mode of living for man on earth has re- ceived, in the minds of so-called hygienists, small conception, and in the life of the best of us comparatively poor illustra- tion, and, therefore, just such experience as these dear people are having in their search for better methods of realizing, de- veloping, and making serviceable spiritual power are of great interest to me. They always have been. It has been a matter of great regret with me, that being an incurably diseased man, and being shut up to the necessity of working up, to the best degree possible for me, a revolution in the thought and conduct of people at large, in matters pertain- ing to their life on earth, I have not been able physically nor circumstantially to carry out my life as I have wanted to do, I have done some things, but always under circumstances that 222 THE NATURAL CURE. endangered my available power to live and work, while making such transitions as I was determined to make. I have settled several principles which enter as constituent elements into the philosophy of life of the human organism. Among them I may mention two : One is, the changes from bad to good, or from worse to better, can never be made re- constructively, except under the policy which governs con- struction. Now, as all growth of any living organism, or any part of it, is, relatively speaking, slow, so all reparation of any injured part in such organism relatively has to be slow. Re- construction, therefore, is slow if according to law. This of itself speaks condemningly of the system of drug medication, because everywhere do drug doctors seek to produce changes from bad to good, or from worse to better, rapidly. This is unphilosophical, and, therefore, can be, on the whole, only open to criticism as being bad practice. Another is, that where morbid conditions have existed until they have become chronic, and the organism has become ad- justed thereto, changes from the abnormal to the normal can not be made without aggravation of those conditions. I have never known a person to go from chronic derangements of any organ in his body to normal conditions of it, without passing through an acute stage, * and this acute stage is criti- cal in its nature, subjecting the organ to added liability for the time, may be subjecting the whole organism to it. Thousands of persons die every day under medical treatment in this coun- try from badly-managed critical changes through which they have to pass. Thifdly. I am satisfied that of all the diseases with which doctors have to deal, and of which persons die, ninety-five per cent, of them have their origin in bad dietetic indulgence, and in deviations from right way of living, caused directly by, and to be attributed to, bad habits of eating and drinking. If * This was illustrated in the case of Mrs. Kinde, who says of her first ex- perience : "I fully expected suffering as a consequence, and so there was foi a time ; but it proved a blessing in disguise." — Author. THE NATURAL DIET 223 you take a hundred diseases, as they are called, and study the predisposing and the provoking causes to their production, you will find that at least ninety-five per cent, have their ori- gin in derangements of the stomach and the organs that are in direct sympathy with it. I take it upon me to say on my platform very frequently, and I repeat the same as I would repeat it from any public platform if I were talking to a public audience : Give me the right and the power, by and with the consent of any given population, whether one thousand or one million, to control their dietetic conditions, and I will take care of their diseases, and, in less than the life of a generation, will banish from their midst seven-eighths of all the diseases now common to phy- sicians in their practice ; will stop the diseases, and deaths that grow out of a prevalence of these diseases and their methods of treatment ; will put an end to the vices and the crimes everywhere extant, and which it is so difficult for so- ciety and government to manage, and thoroughly revolutionize the physical an4 moral status of such people. We have to go to the bottom of things in order to get to the top of things, for the home of the eternal righteousness is so high that no ladder can reach it, unless its lower end rests on bed-rock. Who builds his house on quicksand runs the risk of his life. Who climbs to the skies by any false means of ascent that he may seek to establish, will find his fate foreshadowed in the simple fact that he does not com- mence his ascent from a secure foundation. Yours very truly, James C. Jackson. Mr. Isaac B. Rumford, and son, hard-working farm- ers, of Bakersfield, Cal., have lived strictly on the "natural diet " for upwards of two years. Mr. Rum- ford has been a chronically-diseased man for many years; now, however, he is so far improved as to be able to do, as he says, "a good day's work." " It is 224 THE NATURAL CURE. doing for me," he writes,. " what I have been seeking and sorrowing after, vainly until now, for twenty years — giving me health. My son also finds it a perfect diet, and would not readily exchange it for any other; indeed, we both enjoy our food more than formerly on the old system. By another year," he adds, " I shall be able to give you still more information on this sub- ject, as others are beginning to be impressed with the advantages of this regimen." (See Appendix.) A. R. B., of New York city, has lived chiefly on un- cooked grain and fruit for upwards of a year ; and his young wife, also, has tried it to a considerable extent. Two years ago Mrs. B. was threatened with consump- tion, and was told by her physician that unless she changed her diet (she was then beginning the vegetari- an regimen) she would certainly not live a year. She " needed meat and milk in abundance, he said. But she only lived the more abstemiously, and on coarse bread, with fruit, chiefly, and, during the past year, has eaten considerable uncooked " bread," and all symp- toms of her disease have disappeared. Mr. B. had nasal catarrh ; but this has disappeared, and he now finds himself thoroughly nourished and better able than ever before to perform his duties. His diet con- sists of two meals, — 7 A.M. and 6 P.M.,— and with but little variation, the two combined make about a half cupful each, wheat and cat groats, with five or six nice apples. His appetite has become sufficiently normal to enable him to enjoy this diet fully. This is in winter. In summer less grain and more fruit, As bearing upon the supposed difficulties in the way of introducing the natural diet, should any choose to THE NA TURAL DIET. 225 adopt it, I can not forbear relating a little incident of recent occurrence : For some weeks past, I have been living exclusively, and with great satisfaction, upon this diet. In a conversation upon the subject, a friend^xpressed, along with some surprise at my state- ments as to the gustatory pleasures of this diet and its completeness for nutrifying the body, a curiosity to know just how it would seem to sit down to a meal without a single dish of cooked food, nor any odor of smoking viands about. " Very good," I said, "dine with us to-morrow, and bring the children." This he promised, and on the following day, Sunday, he came up with his two children, a boy of seven and a girl of three years. Nothing was said to them by their father before, nor by any one after their ar- rival, as to the kind of food to be set before them ; they were simply invited out to dinner, and antici- pated a good time. The injudicious comments, or " chaffing," of parents and friends, will very easily " set " children against what would naturally be their own inclinations if given a fair chance, without having their minds prejudiced, I mean, by the notions, or the dyspeptic idiosyncracies of their elders. At 4 P.M. the table was set, but with no extras on account of company, although here " .extras" would imply no additional trouble nor, perhaps, expense. There were dates, — " Persian," or the kind which are in regular tiers and handled comfortably, — walnuts, filberts, raisins, a variety of apples, and, for bread, a fruit-dish contain- ing "oat groats." The latter was served as the first course, the children eating of this natural bread with 10* 226 THE NATURAL CURE. every appearance of satisfaction, as did all the com- pany, a few teaspoonfuls each. All united in calling it sweet and good. Then came walnuts and raisins ; some added filberts, others took only the latter, after which, dates, and then, for dessert, apples ; of these, one or two each were eaten. In the midst of the nuts and raisins, I may add, and what surprised my visitor more than all else, both children asked, volun- tarily, for " a few more oats," which they received and ate with a gusto ! As we arose from the table, my friend (a banker, by the way, and a " good liver,") said, " There, I can truly say that I have never eaten a more satisfactory dinner ; taken all in all, this has been a model meal." " How about the children ? " I asked, of him, but they answered ; " I have had a splendid dinner," said the boy. " I've had a splendid dinner," chorused the little three-year- old. The father added (what was in my own mind), that he enjoyed the meal all the more because of the non-necessity for restricting the children in any man- ner : there was no occasion for caution — no " mustn't eat so fast," no " I'm afraid you are not chewing your food thoroughly," " No, dear, no more of the preserves, — they will hurt you," nor any nuisance of the sort ; nor any risk in consequence ; and I remark- ed, with my friend's entire acquiescence, that, often as I had observed them, both in their home and at my own table, never had I seen them so apparently satisfied in every respect, from the beginning to the end of a meal ; that, in fact, they had never enjoyed a meal in so utterly unrestricted a manner ; and at THE NATURAL DIET. 227 the same time, they arose from the table with no in- dication of surfeit — no heaviness, nor succeeding sleepiness or peevishness, as we often witness with children after an ordinary dinner. Here was a delicious and ample midwinter dinner for six at a total cost of less than the meat alone for a mixed meal, — with no brewing, baking or fuming- up the home, or heating up and using up its mistress in the preparation, and clearing away of the meal, not to mention the other injurious effects of an ordinary " company dinner/' A few weeks later, in response to an invitation from my little guests, I had the pleasure of a return-dinner of the same sort, and a Christmas (1882) dinner at that, at which a larger company assembled, and all pronounced it complete ; and the servants did not complain of being over- worked — nor underfed. One of these was overheard to say, "Dessert 's good enough for me ! " I would ask all prudent parents, Are you not often disturbed about the little ones' diet— about the pie, cake, pudding, etc., and are they not frequently made ill by/ 4 over-indulgence/' as it is called, in these things ? How can you expect a little, growing child, with an appetite like that of a shark (if hot, melting viands, or artificial sweets are before them), with no sort of physiological knowledge, in fact a normal and proper disgust for anything of the sort, no idea of pru- dence, but only a dread of your frequent and necessary cautions, — how can you expect a child, with mouth full of hot bread, — or any bread, — with butter, milk, or sauce, or mashed potatoes, garnished with gravy. 228 THE NATURAL CURE. turkey, stuffing, and cranberry, all melting in his mouth, to " chew " what requires no chewing and can not be made wholesome by chewing, and " hold " what will rush away into the stomach as though im- pelled by an all-controlling force? It can not be done, you can not do it yourselves, and as for the young ones, it is the refinement of cruelty to attempt it ; — it means dissatisfaction, discomfort, and, often, the destruction of what should be a happy season, to be perpetually badgering them about it; it is un- natural and wrong. Give your children the sort of food you think best for them, and let them enjoy it. If this can not be done with safety, the fault is with the food, not with them. The best way to effect a change in an obnoxious law, as has been well said, is to enforce the law. The same principle holds in diet : If you find that you are furnishing a sort of food which, eaten unrestrictedly and in their own way, makes your children sick or endangers their health, give them something better. At the meal of which I have been speaking, there was no restraint, no cautions, nor occasion for any : the food was of that strictly natural sort which, while requiring to be well masticated, itself enforced the law. The sharp teeth of the children cut the oats per- fectly ; there was no stimulation, nor temptation to hurry the food into the stomach without masticating it, no feverish appetency, as with hot, highly-seasoned viands — all wanted to chew the food as much as it " wanted to be " chewed, and, consequently, no ap- preciable amount of it entered the stomach unpre- THE NATURAL DIET 229 pared for stomach-digestion. For the first time in the lives of these children, since they were weaned, could this be said of them. It can not be said of a single child in America, or elsewhere, who sits at a table supplied with ordinary food. What results from this unnatural manner of alimentation ? Indi- gestion, inevitably, indicated by various symptoms, as, for example, flatulency which is popularly regarded as entirely natural, the odorous emanations from the younger fry being considered evidence of indiscretion instead of what it really is — disease. And what from this ? Blood-poisoning, as surely ; with aches, pains, feverish spells, with influenza (popularly called " a cold "), which, as can not be too much emphasized, is, strictly speaking, instead of a disease, the effort of Nature to " cure " a disease which otherwise would become so deep-seated as to demand a " run of fever to eliminate it, and all manner of physical ailments. I am often asked, What constitutes the scrofulous diathesis, so called, or the scrofulous " taint " sup- posed to be the inheritance of so many of the children of our times? My reply is this : Scrofulous persons are those, mainly, perhaps it should be said wholly, who from current bad habits (as to diet, air, and all the requirements, or any part of them, which are necessary for the maintenance of health), manufacture bad, in- stead of pure blood. Such persons become more and more depraved, and incapacitated for bequeathing to their offspring great vital power. In consequence the children of such parents are endowed with a feeble organism ; that is, an organism incapable, at least 230 THE NATURAL CURE. until virtually, or nearly as possible made over new, of putting forth in any direction a great degree of force, whether of the voluntary muscular system, the brain, the digestive or excretory systems, or what not. Children of this stamp may, they often do, ex- hibit precocity in one or another direction — being unbalanced, so to say — and may evince much alert- ness, both in muscle and brain, but they soon tire : it will always be found that they are incapable of pro- longed effort in any direction, without exhaustion. They may develop a fondness for study and for play, but in neither direction have they any staying power : they are called over-ambitious, often ; they a?e undernourished always. And this, not because they do not swallow a large quantity of food (though some children are kept so surfeited as to have # little relish for food, and may, consequently, eat but little, being all the time a few days ahead of their stom- achs, so to say), but generally because, of all the food swallowed, not enough is digested and assimi- lated to sustain them, and keep them in a vigorous state. They are, like all animals, when not suffering from nausea or lack of appetite through somebody's fault, very ambitious in the way of eating ; having — not inherited — but rather, I should say, acquired during the involuntary cramming of infancy — that special school for gluttony, which graduates near thirty per cent, of its pupils into premature graves before their first year is ended — and the injudicious feeding of the survivors in childhood, a full, perhaps rounded measure of appetency, especially for the very THE MA TURAL DIET. 23 1 things which scrofulous children, of all born children, should not have. They may be greedy for study and for food (though often enough, excess of the latter makes them listless and unfit for either study or play), but have for neither, sufficient capacity for di- gestion and assimilation, to make them either learned or strong. It follows, if they are fed like their robust fellows who can bear up under the burden, that by reason of quality, frequency, and amount of food eaten, no portion, not even such wholesome articles as fruit, vegetables, etc., as they may have in abun- dance, — no portion of their food is properly digested and assimilated. It is unnatural in variety, is pre- pared and eaten unnaturally, and, as has been said, there ensues, as surely as any effect is simultaneous with its cause, indigestion, blood-poisoning, and the current, daily manufacture of " scrofulous humors," if people choose to call them by that name; and but for its misleading tendency, as at present interpreted, this name would answer as well as any. Of pure food, these children can digest and assimilate a given amount — an amount, indeed, suited to their peculiar needs ; the balance, including all unwholesome sub- stances,* is so much for influenza, catarrh, " scrofula," * I include cream among the forbidden animal fats, especially for scrofu- lous subjects, for the reason that in practice I have never observed other than ultimately injurious effects from its use. I can account for this only upon the ground that if milk is a proper food for man, whole milk — like whole wheat, whole apples, whole grapes, whole beets, instead of white Hour, cider, wine and sugar — only can be thus classed. The fact that many, even robust persons, can not use milk at all, and a still larger proportion cream, whereas skimmed milk is well borne by them and in some instances seems to produce lasting good effects, may be accounted for, perhaps, in the following man- 232 THE NATURAL CURE. measles, "nervousness/' fractiousness, ("measly dis- position " was not originally a slang phrase by any means) scarlet fever, skin, scalp, and all other so-called diseases. The remedy, then, for the disorders of children of scrofulous, or any other diathesis, is plain : stop feeding them unnaturally, and feed them natu- rally. And the earlier in their lives this is done, and the more faithfully it is attended to, the more likely they will be to " outgrow their inheritance/' I do not hesitate to say that, of those weakly-born or "tainted" children who die in infancy or childhood, or live sickly lives, in a very large proportion of cases they could, by right treatment, chiefly as to fresh air and diet, be built up above the plain of disease, Le n placed upon the highest level possible to them, and enabled to live fairly long lives, a comfort to them- selves and a benefit to the world. And this, too, in a majority of instances, on a rigidly abstemious vege- table diet, reserving the " natural diet " for the most critical cases, or the most conscientious persons.* Finally, to add so large a line of proper foods to our dietary by a correct understanding of their real office and value — taking them out of the category of mere pastime-lunches — should, from any point of view, be ner : As our cows are bred and fed, their milk is abnormally loaded with fatty matters, and when skimmed, after sitting- twelve or more hours, still contains, as compared with 7iatural cows' milk, a full proportion of cream. Therefore, by removing the excess of cream, which is of an excretory nature, we are doing all in our power to " restore the balance," or to make the milk natural. Let those who choose make use of this delicious scum ; but its ad- ministration to sick people, though often, like drugs, producing stimulating, and apparently beneficial effects, will, in the end, like every form of stimula- tion, hinder, if not prevent recovery. (See Stimulation. ) * See note 5 in Appendix, p. 2S1. THE NATURAL DIET 233 accounted a great gain. We are made by that much more independent, in being elevated above the other- wise some-time-necessity of eating unmitigatedly jjad, or badly-prepared food, or of going without any ; for almost any corner grocery will furnish a better bill-of fare than one often finds at poor hotels or restau- rants ; besides, this class of foods may be taken along better than any other : they are the most comfortable to transport and to handle en route, and will " keep." Moreover, they demand less time for " preliminary di- gestion " after eating; if, indeed, one may not, after a judicious meal of them, resume ordinary mental or muscular labor with impunity. The effect of a light lunch of fruits, is really, when one is once accustomed to their use, exhilarating to both the brain and the muscular system — stimulating, not as with a spur, but, rather, a " push behind"; or, more truly, by in- crease of actual strength through pabulum supplied to the blood, of a character, as I am convinced, unlike that of any form of cooked food. Note. — In concluding this theme, while expressing the belief that this will be the diet of the future — that advancing civilization will demand it, on the score of economy, as relates to time, care, and health, no less than the comparatively trifling consideration of money cost (and yet what an item even this would be to the toiling millions !), and above all in view of the emancipation of woman from the serfdom of the kitchen, where she now exhausts herself to the injury of the family, her incessant kitchen labors tending especially to unfit her for the production of robust 234 THE NATURAL CURE. children — yet I would not chill the health-seeker of to-day, by insisting upon the vital importance of every one's breaking away abruptly from all present customs as regards the selection and preparation of food. To a considerable degree the usage of genera- tions has, beyond question, adapted our systems to the use of cooked foods — has even rendered them somewhat unadapted to the instant use of uncooked foods — so that a radical and complete change, abrupt- ly made, would result in temporary digestive distur- bance, which (however advantageous the results of the change, finally, if persisted in with faith and courage) would render it impracticable for some persons, more especially since this temporary physical inconvenience would be added to the social inconvenience arising from placing oneself so markedly at variance with all about him. No one can form a just opinion of this last item until he attempts a radical change in his dietetic habits : it presents the greatest check imagi- nable to rapid progress in this direction. A reform, however, which is at the same time feasi- ble and, in most instances, sufficient, speaking gener- ally, — and which, as elsewhere remarked, already has its hundreds of thousands of adherents in this coun- try alone, — would be the adoption of the " fruit and bread," or the ordinary vegetarian diet even — ban- ishing all doubtful dishes, condiments, spices, hot drinks — stimulants all — making a lunch (or two, even) in the course of the day, of fruit, with a biscuit or two at one of them, perhaps ; and at eve, when the tired ones are rested, a regular " full meal/ THE NATURAL DIET 235 consisting of various bread dishes — wheat, corn, rye and oatmeal, with various admixtures of the same, which may well furnish a different flavor (several, in- deed) for every day in the month — fruit, milk (for those with whom it "agrees"), vegetables and nuts. Following this direction, and aiming constantly, but comfortably, to maintain the balance between diet and labor — between the food eaten and the needs of the or- ganism for nutriment — one may not only enjoy, as he ought, the pleasures of the table, but, in very many cases, absolutely and largely increase these pleasures, in the aggregate, considering, more especially, his ex- emption from sickness with its occasional involuntary fasts, and, with many, the quite frequent periods of slight, or non-satisfaction, through nausea and lack of appetite arising from an injudicious dietary. This regimen lessens by one-half the housewife's burdens, as well as the cost of living, while it adds immeasura- bly to her health and that of her household. CHAPTER XVI. MALARIA— SEWER GAS. THESE are very vicious companions, and cause a deal of mischief. The scientists have much to say of the prevalence, and of the deleterious effects of sewer gas, from faulty plumbing, etc. ; but they do not insist, upon, scarcely indeed mention, the plain fact, that if this insidious destroyer can, as is now known, get into a dwelling through a foot of stone or brick wall, it can and will get out through an open window ; and that, in any event, if there be abundant ventilation there will be such dilution of these gases as to render them comparatively innoxious. It is not so much the letting in of bad air, but rather the confining of it — the breathing of it, " pure and un- adulterated " — that causes disease. There is more malaria in a close bedroom in the most favored mountain-region, and in the alimentary canal of a constipated or drug-swallowing dyspeptic, than about the swamps and bayous of Louisiana or the dreaded Roman Campagna, where wrapped in a single blanket, the author has slept night after night — to prove his faith in the theory, as well the theory itself. The " Roman fever," so alarming to visitors of the holy (236) MALARIA—SEWER GAS. 237 city, is the joint product of stuffy hotel bedrooms and a diet better suited to the climate of Iceland than Italy. "I have lately spent a summer in a country place whose delicious air is a just source of pride to its in- habitants/' says an observing writer, in Our Continent. " They told me how doctors sent their patients there from a distance, and how even consumptives had had their fell disease arrested by the tonic effects of the pure air and invigorating breezes, and then I found the very people who thus glorified in them shutting out every breath of air and every ray of sunshine from their houses because of flies ! In returning the calls of neighbors, I was struck the moment I entered their houses with that close, unwholesome, i stuffy ' smell which we generally associate with the homes of the ignorant and unneat classes alone, but which is often to be noticed in those of a class far above them. As I looked at the outside of the different houses in the place, it was difficult to realize that they were really inhabited. Every blind was carefully closed, and not one sign of life visible ; and yet, unfortunately, life was going on behind those closed windows — life which needed every advantage to make it healthy and enjoy- able. Does it never occur to you, you housekeepers whose minds recoil from soiled house-linen, fly-specks on paint, and every species of uncleanliness — docs it never occur to you, you so-called neat women, that there is one thing absolutely dirty in your cleanly- swept and carefully-dusted houses, and that is their 238 THE NA TURAL C URE. very air? You who would blush with shame at the idea of anything unclean worn on your person, or tak- en into your mouth, do you not know you are taking in uncleanliness with every breath you draw ; and that unclean air is making your blood, and through its means, your entire bodies impure? .... Many a woman is regretting this summer that she is unable to have a change of air for herself and children by going to the seaside, the country, or the mountains. Why not try the effect of change of air at home? If air makes such a difference to your health as you ad- mit, why not let it do its best for you wherever you are?" It would be hard to find, in any community, a person so ignorant as not to know that the lungs require good air. " Oh, yes, of course, I know we must have pure air." Yes, indeed. Nevertheless, ninety-five families in every hundred, in city and coun- try, though always ready to say this, suffer every day of their lives for want of it. This arises from a lack of definite knowledge (1) as to the true office of air — of the fact that it supplies the major portion of the body's nourishment, since an ordinary person could live six weeks or more without eating, and as many days without liquids of any sort ; while as many minutes without oxygen is certain death ; and (2) as to what constitutes " pure air in the home." Says Prof. Huxley: " But the deprivation of oxygen, and the accumulation of carbonic acid, cause injury long before the asphyxiating point is reached. Uneasiness and headache arise when less than one per cent, of MALARIA—SEWER GAS. 239 the oxygen of the air is replaced by other matters ; Awhile the persistent breathing of such air tends to lower all kinds of vital energy, and predisposes to disease. Hence the necessity of sufficient air, and of ventilation for every human being. To be supplied with respiratory air in a fair state of purity, every man ought to have at least eight hundred cubic feet of space to himself, and that space ought to be freely accessible, by direct or indirect channels, to the at- mosphere." A room ten feet square, and eight feet high, if "freely accessible" to the outer air during the entire 24 hours, will, according to the high authority quoted, supply the necessary respiratory rations, so to say, for one adult person. In so far, then, as this space per capita is diminished, its accessibility to the outer air must be increased ; that is, the ventilation (which should in all cases be constant) must be freer, in pro- portion as the size of the room is diminished or the number of its occupants increased. No room built with hands will ever be large enough to supply the " breath of life," in default of free communication with the outer air. WINTER VENTILATION. The true theory of ventilation is to obtain a per- petual and sufficient change of air without sensible draught. The following simple plan, as I have proved by years of experience, perfectly fulfills these require- ments, and leaves nothing to be desired. The Srien- tific A merican endorses the plan, and places it above 240 THE NA TURAL CURE. many, in fact most of the elaborate and expensive devices. The eminent Dr. B. W. Richardson, of L in full, and with a large additional amount of costs. It is of great importance, therefore, to watch the ap- petites of body and of mind ; to study the laws of healthy equilibrium ; and, above all, to learn to know and understand the dangers of prolonged self-indul- gence of the appetites of pleasure in mere animal sen- sation and wild imagination. Appetite, properly so called, apprises man of the natural wants of the organ- ism, and compliance with these internal promptings is rewarded by the double pleasure of the sense of taste in eating, and the feeling of comfort within, aris- ing from the food supplied to the digestive system. But where the mind is weak and the delights of bodily sensation strong, the pleasures of taste or the charm of varied sensations in the palate dwell on the imag- ination and excite it to renewed indulgence of phys- ical sensations, irrespective of the wants of the internal organism, and this even notwithstanding its declining health and manifest debility." The morbid cravings . of the sense of perverted taste, or any other sense, must not be confounded, therefore, with the natural appetite excited by the wants of the internal organism. " In the bear tribes there is a marked preference for honey manifested, which reveals a sense of taste that works on the imagination, and leads him to incur the risk of being stung to death by an infuriated swarm of bees rather than forego the sensual delights of plundering the hive and licking out the honeycomb when he is master of the spoils. The swollen head and face and ears are nothing to the charm of sensual indulgence." When I observe the sufferers from sick- 264 TUP NATURAL CURE. headache or neuralgia (see Rheumatism), with swollen face and bandaged head, I am forcibly reminded of the honey-loving bear. No expert can observe the habits of the people and fail to account for all the diseases that afflict the hu- man family. Victims of disobedience to the natural laws — they have done the things they ought not to have done, and have left undone the things they ought to have done, and (consequently) there is no health in them. Diseases — how slowly we accept their teaching — how blind we are to their warning voice ! The word itself is not understood. The term disease is popularly applied only to the most serious forms, such as have been named, when it is properly applicable to any condition other than the normal condition of the body — perfect ease. Acidity, heart- burn, flatulence, slight pains in the head, uneasy sen- sations of whatever sort — so little regarded until too late — are they not dis-ease ? They speak plainly of indigestion, — the causes of which are recited else- where ; — they are to the body what the degree-points are to the thermometer, and require only to be con- scientiously considered to ensure freedom from dis- turbance. Other appetites there are which become morbid and too often control the individual, instead of being themselves under entire subjection to him. The unnatural habits of our civilization have caused the race to depart from the natural instinct of CONTINENCE which, to the minds of many, is as essential to the APPE TITE— CONTINENCE. 2 6$ moral and physical health of the race after, as to its " virtue" before, marriage ; and which, but for the inflammatory nature of the diet in general use, and the disorders arising therefrom, might easily be prac- ticed by all conscientious and thoughtful people. A radical modification of the prevailing dietetic prac- tices would lessen, immeasurably, the constant war- fare between the moral desires and the animal pro- pensities, to which both the married and the single are subjected, and which results in disaster in so many instances. " Marital excesses often produce in the offspring sexual precocity and passions which, under the influence of an unwholesome and stimula- ting dietary, are rendered ungovernable, and entail a vast deal of shame and sorrow throughout the lives of those who are ' more sinned against than sinning.' Verily the sins of the parents shall be visited upon the children even to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Him and violate His law." * "Ah! my friends," said the Rev. F. W. Farrar, Canon of Westminster Abbey, " how vast a part of human disease results, not only from the ignorance but also from the folly and sin of man. Typhoid, leprosy, small-pox, and jail-fever are not by any means the only diseases which might be almost, if not quite, eliminated from among us. We talk with deep self- pity of the ravages of gout and cancer and consump- tion and mental alienation. Alas ! haw many of these might in one or tzvo generations eease to be, if zee all * Chapter on " Health Hints" in " How To Feed The Baby." 12 266 THE NATURAL CURE. lived the wise and temperate and happy lives which Nature meant us to lead ! And the voice of Nature, rightly interpreted, is ever the voice of God. Even the simplest of us are superfluous in our demands, and the vast majority of men so live as, more or less, habitually to pamper the appetite by wasteful extrav- agance and weaken the health by baneful luxuries. By unwholesome narcotics, by burning and adulter- ated stimulants, by many and highly-seasoned meats, by thus storing the blood with unnatural elements which it can not assimilate, they clog and carnalize the aspirations which they should cherish, and feed into uncontrollable force the passions which they should control. Hence it is that millions of lives are like sweet bells jangled out of tune ; and millions bf men in these days, like the Israelites of old, are laid to rest in Kibroth Hattaavah — the graves of lust ! "And the sad thing is that this heavy punishment ends not with the individual. It is not only that the boy when he has marred his own boyhood, hands on its moral results to the youth ; and the youth when he has marred them yet more irretrievably hands them on to the man that he may finish the task of that perdition ; — but alas ! the man also hands them on to his innocent children, and they are born with bodies tormented with the disproportionate impulses, sickly with the morbid cravings, enfeebled by the in- creasing degeneracy, tainted by the retributive disease of guilty parents." We must remember, says Albert LeffingweH, quot- ing the above in " Laws of Life," that he who speaks APPETITE— CONTINENCE. 267 thus is no obscure Boanerges, vaguely ranting over abstract sin, but one of the few great preachers in the Church of England, speaking in the most venerable religious edifice in Protestant Christendom. The most persistent and thorough cramming of our youth with high moral precepts avails but little, after all, — we observe this constantly, — to counteract the fierce impulses of an unbalanced physical state. Says the Duke of Argyle : " The truth is, that we are born into a system of things in which every act carries with it, by indissoluble ties, a long train of consequences reaching to the most distant future, and which for the whole course of time affect our own condition, the condition of other men, and even the conditions of external nat- ure. And yet we can not see those consequences beyond the shortest way, and very often those which lie nearest are in the highest degree decep- tive as an index to ultimate results. Neither pain nor pleasure can be accepted as a guide. With the lower animals, indeed, these, for the most part tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Appetite is all that the creature has, and in the gratification of it the highest law of the animal being is fulfilled. In man, too, appetite has its own indispensable function to discharge. But it is a lower function, and amounts to nothing more than that of furnishing to Reason a few of the primary data on which it has to work — a few, and a few only. Physi- cal pain is indeed one of the threatenings of natural authority; and physical pleasure is one of its rewards. 268 THE NA TURAL CURE. But neither the one nor the other forms more than a mere fraction of that awful and imperial code under which we live. It is the code of an everlasting kingdom, and of a jurisprudence which endures throughout all ages." .... u It is no mere failure to realize aspirations which are vague and imaginary that constitutes this exceptional element (the per- sistent tendency of his development to take a wrong direction) in the history and in the actual conditions of mankind. That which constitutes the terrible anomaly of his case admits of perfectly clear and specific definition. Man has been and still is a con- stant prey to appetites which are morbid — to opinions which are irrational, to imaginings which are horri- ble, and to practices which are destructive. The prevalence and the power of these in a great variety of forms and of degrees is a fact with which we are familiar — so familiar, indeed, that we fail to be duly impressed with the strangeness and the mystery which really belong to it. All savage races are bowed and bent under the yoke of their own perverted in- stincts — instincts which generally in their root and origin have an obvious utility, but which in their act- ual development are the source of miseries without number and without end. Some of the most horri- bie perversions which are prevalent among savages, (and which to a greater or less degree affect all civil- ized peoples), have no counterpart among any other created beings, and when judged by the barest standard of utility, place man immeasurably below the level of the beasts. We are accustomed to say APPETITE-CONTINENCE. 269 of many of the habits of savage life that they are ' brutal/ But this is entirely to misrepresent the place which they really occupy in the system of Na- ture. None of the brutes have any such perverted dispositions ; none of them are ever subject to the destructive operation of such habits as are common among men. And the contrast is all the more re- markable when we consider that the very worst of these habits affect conditions of life which the lower animals share with us, and in which any departure from those natural laws which they universally obey, must necessarily produce, and do actually produce, consequences so destructive as to endanger the very existence of the race. Such are all those conditions of life affecting the relation of the sexes which are common to all creatures, and in which man alone ex- hibits the widest and most hopeless divergence from the order of Nature." CHAPTER XIX. CONCLUSION. While the more important material agencies afid conditions, closely related to the processes of life, are air, food, clothing, etc. ; and while the reader's atten- tion has been, throughout, mainly directed to these ; it would, from the author's point of view, constitute a serious defect of the work, to omit the special con- sideration of the moral nature — its mighty influence over the physical state. In no better way can I im- press this thought than by quoting the language of that veteran hygienist and reformer, Dr. James C. Jackson : " But while a human being has a physical organi- zation, and has, therefore, physical laws, he is dual,, possessing also a spiritual nature ; and to treat him for any disease he may have as though it originated in his body and did not relate itself at all to his soul or spirit, is to treat him, in ninety-nine cases in a hun- dred, unphilosophically and therefore unscientifically. Our observation and experience go to satisfy us that the majority of sick persons become disturbed and disorded in spirit before they show disorder or de- rangement of body. " To illustrate : a man never comes to be a dyspeptic (270) CONCLUSION. 271 until he has a false spiritual conception of the true relations which he should hold to the use of food ; he is conceptively sick before he is physically dys- peptic ; he turns things right around in his mind ; he lives to eat instead of eating to live ; he is spiritually depraved before he becomes physically diseased. Take the methods of life common to our people. It is largely through these that they become sick. They eat badly, drink badly, dress unhealthfully, work without reference to their power to recover from the fatigue which work imposes, do not get sleep enough, are in a fret, or in a worry, or in a strife, or are under strain in their work. They work selfishly or for their own good only, and often as against the good of others ; they seek to thrive at others* unthrift ; they buy and sell with the view in their minds of living gainfully at others' loss ; they have a false conception, a perverse view, of the relationships which they should hold to others, and under this spiritual per- versity they put forth their energies. As they are in- wardly wrong they become outwardly disordered, and when this disorder develops into actual sickness it has a spiritual or wrong moral basis. Having violated the higher law of their natures, in selfishness of thought and feeling, they are compelled to take the reflex effects in and upon their bodies. Living with- out sympathy, they become sympathetically diseased ; the sympathetic forces in their nature, lacking proper expression or use, become debilitated and deranged, as shown in the abnormal condition of the sympa- thetic nervous structure. 2J2 THE NATURAL CURE. u For instance : a man with his liver functionally de- ranged appears before a physician : The pulse shows the circulation to be disturbed ; the excretory system has become largely inactive — the skin, bowels, kidneys, and lungs each working inefficiently or com- pelled to overdo. The doctor concludes that a good dose of calomel and jalap, which enter into the allo- pathic practice ; or some sitz-baths, skin-rubbing, packs, or injections, which would be the hydropathic practice ; or regulation of diet, connected with some mild alterative, which belong to the eclectic practice; or some little pills, which w T ould be the homoeopathic practice, are what the man needs. He is a glutton, or a wine-bibber, or he drinks whiskey, or he lives bodily not only, but morally and spiritually on the line of self-indulgence. He lives as he pleases, and this not merely in his animal life. He lives spiritu- ally as he pleases ; his spirit is selfish and lawless. Order and righteousness are not in all his thoughts. His conscience is asleep ; his intelligence is not at all on the alert ; he has no inspirations, or aspirations ; he simply has unhallowed desires, and his life consists largely in efforts to gratify these, and there he is — disturbed, disordered, deranged, diseased, sick. " When one thus affected comes to us, what do we do with him ? We bring him to judgment ; we summon him up into the presence of the truth. ,We say : You are at fault for this sickness of yours ; it is not necessary for you to be sick ; you may be a healthy person, you should be. You may be free from aches and pains, you ought to be. There is no defective- CONCL USION. 273 ness in your organization ; it is made to run success- fully ; that it does not, is your fault, not the fault of your circumstances. What you need is right per- ception and a good conscience to back it ; a willing- ness, not only, but a thorough will to do right. In you is ample vital force to set your liver right, make your bowels work, make your skin carry on its in- sensible perspiration, your blood circulate healthfully, and have everything done according to law. All that is necessary is that you put your spirit, your responsible consciousness on the throne, and make your body its servant. When you resolve to do this and begin to do it, you will begin to get well. You do not need medicine ; yon need nothing done for you in order to get well, except to do judiciously, and, in your con- ditions, discretely, what if you had done all the while would have kept you well. " The first thing to do is, not to consult doctors : not to hunt for some wonderful curative ; but to get right ideas of life, and then begin, though in a feeble manner, to conform yourself to that way spiritually. Love the thing you are going to do ; get your whole nature into a glow toward it. If it be to eat simple food, love to do it — not do it wishing you had not to do it. Look at the thing kindly, joyfully, com- fortingly. Put away your evil habits, one after another, because they are evil, not simply because they hurt you. Get up a rebellion in your spirit against wrong ways of living. Resolve that you will not live wrongly ; characterize that way as it should be characterized, as an improper, unmanly, mean, or 12* 274 THE NATURAL CURE. unbefitting way for you. Say : I will not smoke ; I will not drink ; I will not make my body an instru- ment of gluttony ; and so go through your whole round of habits, putting away all those that you can get along without. Reduce your artificial wants to a minimum. Throw yourself over on the line of order and law, and regularity and propriety. Then you will get well." APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. I [NOTE on deep breathing.] A Good Hobby. — On pages 84, 111 and 137 I have barely touched upon this subject. I wish now to call attention to it as a matter worthy of greater consideration than might perhaps be gathered from what has been said. Personally, I begun the practice, when I was about sixteen years old, of taking long, deep breaths occasionally, at odd times during the day, from reading a little slip explaining its usefulness in " strengthening " the lungs, and increasing their capacity. At the age of eighteen, I remember, upon being examined for a life insurance policy, the exam- ining surgeon expressed great surprise at the unusual " swell " or expansion of my chest — about five inches increase when my lungs were fully inflated, over chest- measure when I had forced out as much air as I could conveniently. Upon explaining, that for a number of years I had made a practice of throwing my shoulders back, taking very deep inspirations slowly, holding my breath a moment, and then as slowly " breathing out " — doing this the first thing every morning on rising, and in a sleeping-room which was never close, again on going out, and occasionally during the day, — the doctor said : " A good plan ; (275) 2?6 THE NATURAL CURE. that accounts for it." In all cases of weak lungs, whether chronic or from " taking cold " (see pp. 40 to 45 for a consideration of the colds delusion), when it is difficult to take a full breath on account of " cramps," catches, or pain in the lungs, this practice will be found of great value, if persisted in. In many in- stances it seems impossible to take a long breath — is, indeed, impossible ; but a little gain may be made every day, by crowding down " one notch," so to say, at each trial. Quite a large percentage of all persons will find on trial that there is more or less of tender- ness upon first making the attempt, or at one time or another, whenever there is any degree of irritation of the stomach. The patient, or experimenter, should inspire a little, however little, beyond the point which seems all that he can do, and persist in this treatment every day. There can be no doubt but we have here a most important aid in the treat- ment of consumption, not only, but of all ill-conditions of the physical man. But the deep, full breathing that comes from having exercised vigorously is best of all (see page 84). 2 [NOTE on bright^ disease.] How to Eat Meat. — In the chapter on this subject, I have taken the position that Albumi- nuria results from : (1) excess in diet ; (2) the use of foods that can not, or are not properly masti- cated and insalivated, as mush, or bread wet and washed down with any sort of artificial fluids, gravy- drowned vegetables, etc. ; (3) stimulating drinks, as APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. 277 beer, spirits, tea, coffee, etc. ; (4) excess of animal food. To this I must add meat eaten in a manner totally different from that in vogue with all car- nivorous animals, viz. : hashed, or tender and well chewed, instead of being, as it should be, swallowed in pieces of convenient size — a rational modification in the premises, surely. Dogs, wolves, cats, and the like, are gourmands, to be sure, but this is not the fundamental reason for their manner of gulping their natural food whole. It has been shown by experi- ments that dogs fed on hashed meat suffer from in- digestion, a portion of their food passing undigested, while if fed the same quantity of meat in chunks, no part of it appears in the excreta, but all is perfectly digested. Grain-eating animals teach us how to eat grain ; or at least, how to masticate farinaceous food. We may well learn from the carnivore an analogous lesson — not, however, necessarily dispensing with knife and fork, napkin or finger-bowl, nor any other improve- ment over their primitive fashions ! THE POINT IS THAT FLESH-FOOD, unlike starchy foods, requires stomach digestioti' only (as against any change in the mouth), and only when taken in the natural manner, that is, substantially as meat-eating animals take it, is it retained in the stomach for a sufficient length of time to be dissolved by the gastric juice ; but much of it passes on into the intestine prematurely (ex- plaining, in great measure, the many cases of inflam- 278 THE NATURAL CURE. mation of the bowels, as well as the frequent lesser disturbances), and doubtless a considerable propor- tion is absorbed in a more or less fermented state, adding thereby impure elements to the blood, and pre- disposing the individual to inflammatory disease. On the contrary, if meat is swallowed in pieces of mod- erate size, each piece being acted upon at the surface gradually dissolves from the outside, and so is perfectly changed by the gastric juice before leaving the stom- ach. In personal experiments I find much less incon- venience from eating flesh-food in this manner than re- sults when I treat it as we have always been taught to. It may be well to caution against eating a large portion of meat in this manner at first ; it would give the stomach a new experience and likely enough create disturbance. One-half the usual amount, taken naturally, would yield as much nourishment as the full ration, perhaps ; at any rate the change should be made gradually (see pp. 50-158, for further consid- eration of the animal food question). The following from the Practitioner, corresponds (as far as M. Sem- mola carries the point) with my view of the matter entirely, as regards the nature of the malady. Albu- minuria, or excess of albumen (that is, unappropriated albuminoids in the circulation, and which are conse- quently excretory matters), must necessarily result from any or all of the causes I have named — causes of indigestion. Says the Practitioner : "At a recent meeting of the Paris Academy of Medicine, M. Semmola, of Naples (' Progres medi- cal/ June 9, 1883), brought fQrward a new theory APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION, 279 with regard to the causation of Bright's disease. This malady he regards as not essentially renal, but as consisting in a general morbid alteration of nutri- tion, and observes that albumen in such cases is not passed by the urine only, but by all the secretory organs. This alteration [or, rather, I should say, the lack of alteration by digestion] deprives the albu- minoid materials of the blood of their power of being assimilated, and so causes their excretion by the emunctories. The renal lesions he ascribes to me- chanical irritation of the tubules of the kidney by the constant passage of albumen through them. Albu- minuria is therefore a cause, not a result, oi renal disease.* M. Simmola founds these views on a series of experiments on animals. He injected into the blood-vessels various substances containing albumen, as white of egg, milk, and blood-serum, with the re- sult of inducing artificial Bright's disease. White of egg was most active in this way." 3 [note to page 169.] Water as Medicine and Food. — There is no royal road to health once deeply diseased. In cer- tain cases, and for a limited period even in these, hot water is invaluable. But if long continued — used as a constant beverage instead of a temporary expedient to aid in removing the slime and " gurry " from stomachs * And this only one of the hundred and one instances, in medical practice, of " cart before the horse," which may make the difference of life or death with every patient under treatment ! 280 THE NATURAL CURE, deeply coated * — the effect will be to keep this organ weak, as a number of Turkish baths every day would enfeeble, in time, the strongest man. One valid ob- jection to tea, chocolate, and coffee is, that they are usually taken hot (see " Coffee, etc."). Warm water is about the most effectual remedy known to me for acute dyspepsia. It should be drunk profusely, even to stomach distension, with finger exploration, if necessary, to produce vomiting ; then a few cupfuls to retain, to wash away any residue of undigested food, dilute the blood, etc. But cool, fresh water is the beverage par excellence for all the year round (see pp. 76-90-100). 4 [NOTE ON ''NATURAL DIET."] With regard to the suggestion, on page 2 It, of using milk to wet farinaceous foods, in place of de- pending solely upon the natural mouth-juices, I wish to say that it was felt by me, at the time, to be entirely unphysiological, and by no means the best way to manage. I now wish to urge that in so far as any one chooses to test the advantages of this reg- * Such patients require a more or less extended fast. This is always safe, and in desperate cases the only means by which the necessary absorbing and healing process can be assured (see pp. 62-71-73-169). The stomach of a healthy creature is, when simply rinsed, absolutely clean and free from offensive matters ; but the constipated dyspeptic, or the consumptive, and many acutely diseased persons, have stormchs which resemble that of an o]d, stall-fed ox, which has to be scraped by the hour before the meanest tripe-eater would buy it, or place it upon his table at any price. Yet a great deal of this kind of tripe is eaten by stall-fed people every day. The flesh of healthy cattle finds no place in our markets nor on our tables. Beef creatures are fed for fatness and tenderness, which is disease. APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. 28 1 imen he will not depart from a truly natural way, so far as the natural way is possible ; but rather use the whole grain, or the whole meal dry, and take the milk (if indulged in at all) by itself, and fruit likewise — after the grain. Several remarkable cases have oc- curred since this book was first issued, in which the curative powers of this diet have been displayed in a most marked manner. I take occasion to mention one. Mrs. L., of Lee, N. H., had been suffering for eight years, during which she had been able to walk but little. She was growing worse, and finally was pronounced by her physician incurably diseased with " ovarian tumor." After six months' use of uncooked food — a breakfast of fruit only, with dinner at night com- posed of unsifted wheat meal (from one-third to one- half cupful, at first, the amount increased later with increased exercise), dry, followed with a little fruit — she is up and about the house, aiding in the house- work, and the past week did the entire family ironing. She has been for eight years a great sufferer, but all her pains have been banished, and her strength and general health are steadily improving under a contin- uance of the diet as above described, together with light, loose clothing, much fresh air, air-baths, self hand-rubbing, and gradually increasing exercise from very small beginnings. 5 [note to page 232.] The Long-sought Principle. — It is confess- edly a standing disgrace to our profession that, after all the boasted "progress in medicine" during 282 THE NATURAL CURE. these hundreds of years of research and experimenta- tion, not one great principle has been established by means of which the people can be, even if disposed (and it can hardly be said that they are, generally), guided toward perfect health. It is charged that veg- etarianism, even, has failed to speedily make sound, bright-eyed, clear-skinned, healthy and therefore handsome men and women, out of life-long " sinners" against the laws of life; and it must be admitted that not all its promises are verified in practice, although it seldom fails to greatly improve all who adopt the regimen (imperfect as it is — and it is very imperfect) as practiced at the various hygienic Cures at home and abroad. The trouble is that food-reformers have only undertaken to modify, with half-way measures — to change a very bad diet for one far from good, one form of " mush " for another less harmful, but by no means physiological. I would assert here as the one all-sufficient principle, so far as physical health is concerned, looking to the rearing of children, that if we were to take a thousand new-born infants — good, bad, and indifferent, as to inheritance — and give them pure cow's milk, avoiding the cramming that is universally practiced ; say, give them two full meals, or three moderate ones a day (the quantity altogether gauged by the individual's digest- ive capacity) ; and, as they should arrive at suitable age (t. e., as teeth began to develop), feed them on strictly natural food — the natural diet — fruits, and grains (in winter, soaked twelve hours in little wa- ter*), the fruit in large proportion ; give them a * This treatment restores the flinty grain (wheat, rye, barley, maize, sweet corn) to its natural plumpness and masticability. There should be little or no liquid to turn off APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. 283 chance to develop normally, such as other young animals have — i. e.. } give them freedom from holding, tending, baby-carting, and the like, except in the smallest measure ; dress them lightly, keep them free from foul air, by sufficient ventilation of all living rooms ; give them the utmost freedom of the lawns or the ground — outdoor exercise — give them this sort of treatment, and not five per cent, would die under five years of age, nor, with fair regard for the known laws of life, would many fail to reach old age in health. The at present supposably-inev- itable " diseases of infancy and childhood" could not exist. The influence of the constant tending and holding to which all infants are subjected is dis- astrous in a twofold degree : (1) for many months they are prevented from taking much voluntary exercioe, and (2) this makes the involuntary cramming rela- tively more excessive ; hence they grow fat and dis- ordered in every way, and predisposed to all manner of sicknesses. Children scarcely ever have occasion to use their teeth. The food in use requires no chewing. Little demand is made upon the salivary glands (for food is hot, moist, and " goes down itself ") ; hence these glands, which consequently fail to develop normally, become at some time acutely diseased, or finally almost if not entirely useless. Hollow, sunken cheeks result from this cause. It was never designed to remedy this defect with fat. The parotid glands and the cheek muscles should be developed and main- tained by physiological eating. The teeth for want of use fail, as the muscular system declines through 284 THE NATURAL CURE, indolence. Unnatural food, fast eating, overeating, poor teeth, dentists, " mumps," plethora, and febrile diseases, or chronic dyspepsia, and all manner of ail- ments — this is the present order of things (see adver- tisement of " How to Feed the Baby"). 6. TIRED FROM INACTION : TOO MUCH " REST." The person who works to-day and gets tired, perhaps almost exhausted, feels sure from former experiences that he will rise next morning well able to w r ork again ; and providing he does not overdraw the ac- count continually, the more he does the more he can do. It is upon this principle that our athletes acquire and maintain condition. But the consumptive, the delicate person, who, as is the case generally, has grown weaker and weaker from doing less and less (and this is in accordance with natural law), becomes at last " tired " in such a man- ner, that without an entire change— a right about face—there is no such thing as getting rested this side the grave. This exhaustion from indolence must be changed for the tiredness resulting from physical exertion, or there is no hope of " cure." Friends must learn the error of their ways ; they must cease the eternal discouragement of the loved one ; there must be no more of the incessant, " Now, Jenny, sit right down — you will get too tired "; " There, now, let me do that — you know how little it takes to tire you "; " You are crazy to think of going outdoors such a day as this," etc., etc, (see page 85). However kindly APT END IX TO SECOND EDITION. 285 meant all this is, it is, in practice, " hitting a man when he is down "; while the usual encouragement to eat (digestion or no digestion) — to eat (appetite or no appetite — the inaction often forbidding all desire for food) is, to use a sporting phrase, a companion " slugger " that finally knocks the weakling off the stage. This is what produces the phlegm as fast as the poor victim can cough it up. Because he has nothing to do — because he does nothing — but ponder over his condition, eat, manufacture phlegm and " raise " it, he lowers himself more and more, until he gets to the bottom. He has " raised " about everything ; only the frame, the skeleton, is left to bury (see pp. 72, 78, 92, 97, 104). A FEW OF THE MANY NOTES FROM READERS OF THE FIRST EDITION OF "NATURAL CURE." J. RUSS, Jr., Haverhill, Mass., says: "Dr. Page's explanation of the ' colds ' question is alone worth the price of a hundred copies of the book — it is, in fact, invaluable, going to the very root of the cause of sickness." Mrs. W. O. Thompson, 71 Irving Place, Brooklyn, N. Y., says: "I wish every friend I have could read it, and, only that hygienists never harbor ill-feeling, that my enemies might not chance to find it. I owe 286 THE NATURAL CURE. much to the truths made clear in ' Natural Cure '; more, indeed, than to all the health literature I have ever read (and I had read much, because I had much need) ; and it is certain that my sister-in-law owes her life and present robust health to the professional attendance of its author." FROM A TEACHER. Mrs. S. S. Ga&E, teacher in the Adelphi Academy, Brooklyn, N. Y., says : " My friend, Mrs. Thompson, recommended this book (' Natural Cure ') to me. Thanks to her and 'the book/ my old headaches trouble me no more ; I am cured of catarrh and par- tial deafness, and, in fact, am better in every way. I never could accomplish so much and with so little fatigue ; and I am sure that all my intellectual work is of better quality than it ever was before." FROM A HUSBAND. D. Thompson, Lee, N. H., says: " Through fol- lowing the advice in ' Natural Cure ' my headaches, which have tortured me at frequent intervals for forty years, return no more. Formerly I could not work for three days at a time, now I work right along. For this, as well as for the restoration of my wife to health, after we had given her up as fatally sick, I have to thank Dr. Page and ' The Natural Cure/ " FROM THE WIFE. Mrs. S. E. D. Thompson, Lee, N. H., says: "I can not well express my gratitude for the benefit I APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. 287 have received from this book and the author's per- sonal counsel. Condemned to die, I am now well. It is truly wonderful how the power of resting is in- creased under the influence of the regimen prescribed. I have distributed many copies of this book, and have known of a life-long asthmatic cured, biliousness removed, perennial hay-fever banished for good, and other won- derful changes produced, by means of the regimen for- mulated in ' Natural Cure.' A friend remarked : ' It is full of encouragement for those who wish to live in clean bodies/ Another said : l It has proved to me that I have been committing slow suicide.' Our minister says : ■- 1 have modified my diet and feel like a new man/ " To this Mrs. Thompson adds, for the author's first book, " How TO Feed the Baby " : "I have known of a number of babes changed from colicky, fretful children to happy well ones, making them a delight to their parents, by following its advice." William C. Langley, Newport, R. . I., says : u While all would be benefited from reading it, I would especially commend it to those who, from in- herited feebleness, or who, like myself, had declined deeply, feel the need of making the most of their lim- ited powers. I may add, that this work bears evidence that the author has had wide range and extensive reading, together with a natural fitness for physiolog- ical and hygienic research, keen perception of natural law and tact in its application." 288 THE NATURAL CURE. Solomon Alexander, No. 252 East Fifty-second Street, New York, says : " I have been greatly bene- fited by Dr. Page's treatment for inflammatory rheu- matism and Bright's disease, and am now steadily im- proving under his direction." July 27, 1883. (Now well, November, 1883.) Mrs. Dr. Densmore, 130 West 44th Street, New York, says: "You can judge of my opinion of ' Natural Cure ' when I tell you that I am buying it of the publishers by the dozen to distribute among my patients." The Popular Science Monthly for September, 1883, says : " The author gives several remarkable ex- amples of wonderful cures which he knows of having been effected by following the principles he lays down — principles which may be followed with profit, and the following of which may relieve many cases re- garded as desperate ; and he has given the public a most valuable manual of hygiene." The Atlantic Monthly for August, 1883, says: " An effort at impressing common-sense views of pre- serving and restoring health." Several hundreds of most flattering notices from secular and religious journals, on file at the publishers' office, indicate how this work is being received by the public. APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. 289 SPECIAL NOTE. It is evident from the nature of the press notices of " The Nat- ural Cure," that the prefatorial request has been very generally complied with, and that not only have critics managed to obtain an understanding of the author's position as regards the only certain means for physical improvement from low conditions, but they are disposed to sustain him in that position. Here and there one, however, as was to be expected, from ignorance of natural law, from personal preferences or notions, from faith in the old way (which has so long been on trial and so signally failed), has failed to comprehend the matter. Diving into the middle of the book, selecting some chapter or paragraph which forbids a consumptive or any frail patient, while doing nothing, to eat like a woodchopper or a railroad hand, and especially warns such from eating worse kinds of food than the man of mighty strength who might, through the influence of active out- door pursuits, get rid of considerable coffee, pie, cakes, pickles, etc., and (providing his diet included plenty of coarse food) even thrive in spite of a good deal of such material (for we know that many indoor loafers, even, are too tough to be speedily killed by such a diet) — carping critics, we mean to say, selecting some special paragraph have held the advice up as " too radical in theory." But no person of sound mind can read this book through with even a fair degree of care, and not learn that its chief aim is to teach people who are now starving, or who are at best poorly nutrified, and, next to these, the well ones who mean to keep on the safe side, the way to live in order to be well nourished and free from the pains, aches, and sicknesses which cover the land with wrecks of human beings — dying — who might better live in clean, sound, and easy bodies. INDEX. Advantages of Deep Breathing... 84, nx Albuminuria (Bright's Disease) ... 116 Animal Food, Injurious Effects of 51, 60, 61 Animal Food Unnecessary 50, 158 41 u Stimulating 160 Acute Stage in the Cure of Chronic Disease........ 222 Appetite, Tempting the, Mischiev- ous 66, 157, 262, 267 Appetite and Insanity 141, 144 Apoplexy 149 Air-Baths ; 166, 171, 172 " and Dyspepsia 168 Apples and Summer-Complaint.. . . 193 Bad Blood . 179 Bacillus Theory, The, of Consump- tion 80 Blood, Bad 179 Bathing 00, 98, 166, 171, 172 Bed, A word About the 102 Bowels, Consumption of the 81 " Forced Movement of the, Unhygienic no Baths, Sun 175 44 Air 166,171,172 44 Injurious Forms of. 172 Biliousness 152 u and " Rich" Food 153 Bi'ight's Disease (Albuminuria) 116 44 Symptoms of. 125, 127, 130 Breathing, Deep.. 84, in, 137 Careless 137 Open-mouth ior Difficult, how Relieved. 101 Beef-tea Fallacy, The 60, 61, 254 Brain, Pumping away the Effete Matters fjom the 137 Bran (Wheat Hulls) Under the Mi- croscope 187 Brain Workers and Stimulation.... 252 Bears, Honey-loving 263 Continence, Influence of Diet in the Matter of. 265 Continence for Consumption, Es- sentiality of 105 Credulity and Ignorance 22 Cold Air not necessarily Pure 240 Colds 35, 36, 37, 41, 45, 171, 218 44 Influence of Diet on 40, 218 " Natural Cure of... 41 44 the Name a Misnomer 45 44 Franklin's Idea of. 171 44 Absurdity of 40, 41, 42 Clothing, Day 120 44 < Night 103 Constipation 65,107,248 44 at Child-birth 107 Consumption , 28 44 Curability of 29 Congestion of the Lungs, How Pro- duced 99 Congestion of the Lungs from Indi- gestion 99 Cheerfulness, Importance of. 77, 98 Carpets and Health 97 Consumption, Out-door Life Essen- tial to the Cure of 30, 48 Consumption, Dyspepsia the Par- ent of. 54 Consumption from Fatty Degenera- tion..... 79 Constipation, when 44 Closed Bow- els " are not, strictly speaking. .65, 107 Constipation from Deficient Diet. . 112 Chilliness, How to Remove 109 Controlling the Symptoms, Folly of the Theory of 112 Cures, Some Natural. 75, 85, 114, 168, 175 Climate, A Cold, Influence on the Kidneys.. > 116, 117 Croup as a Symptom in Albumin- uria 128 Catarrh 153 44 Specific Trea t m en t for, Danger of. 130 Catarrh, Suppressed and Diabetes.. 130 Caffeine allied to Quinine 244 Coffee 44 and Indigestion Q51 44 and Insomnia. 44 and Health 44 a Diuretic B51 Cleanliness and Insomnia.. 138 Cooking Vegetables, some Hints about m Cooking, Injurious Effects of.., ,waj\ *W (291) 292 INDEX. Cost of Living 206 Cure, The Raw-Food 217 Chronic Diseases usually the Re- sult of Chronic Provocation 147 Child-birth, Constipation at. Nor- mal , 107 Cistern Water, Stagnant, How to Renovate 212 Christmas Dinner, A " Natural ".. 227 Change of Air at Home 237 Cream, Unwholesomeness of 231 Caffeine, Artificial, How Manu- factured 248 Coffee and Courage.. ••;••; 258 u and Tea more Injurious than Beer 261 Coffee and Alcohol, Physiological Effects of, Similar 259 Conclusion 270 Cramming the Sick, Mania for 59, 66 y 76, 146 Diet, The Natural 207 " Various Hints about 88, 153 " Abstemious, for Consump- tives 89, 90, 92 Diet, Prevailing, Unwholesome — 227 u Excessive, Promotes Con- sumption, How 81, 82, 83 Diet, Influence of, on Health 48, 59, 66, 81, 88, 99, 112, 113, 122, 126 Diet, A Physiological 197 44 and Virtue 265 Diabetes from Suppressed Nasal Catarrh 130 Diabetes, Treatment for 130 Death, Sudden, Accounted for.31, 32, 149 Death Penalty, The, Nature's Com- mutation of. 147, 148 Disease, The Temper 39 14 Hunger a 39 " Providence and 8,9,17 " Prevalence of 9, 14 fc * Exciting Causes of 11,12 " Predisposing Causes of. . "? I2 > 35* 4° Diseases Arising from Renal Dis- order..^ 130 Dyspepsia . 168 Doctors, A Prescription for 95 Dry Diet, Advantages of 93 Degeneration, Fatty.. 78, 79, 80, 148, 150 Digestive and Muscular Capacity Compared 68, 230 Dysentery, A Hint Concerning 113 Diathesis, The 4k Disease " . 132 " Unimportance of the Question of 132 Dyspepsia and Dreams 133 Diphtheria a Phase of Albuminuria 128 44 The Class of Persons most Subject to 128 Diuretics, The Best of All 124 Diuretic, Coffee a , 251 'Diseases, The True Interpretation of 133 Dyspeptics are Recruited, How. . . . 157 Diarrhoea, Chronic, Cured with Watermelons 192 Driven Cow's Milk Unnatural 212 Digestion, Primary, in the Mouth. 93 Eating Alone Sometimes Useful... 176 Eating at Bed-time for Sleepless- ness 144 Error, A Common 113 Exercise, Passive 113 Exercise, The True Problem About 70 Exercise for Comsumptives 69 Exercise. . . 68, 89, 90, 109, 119 Expectorants, Natural • 89, 91, 105 Exercise, Lack of, How to Counter- act.. 195 Exercise After Eating 201, 202 Fruit vs. Fish, Flesh, Fowl & Co. in Hot Weather 191 Fruit in Winter 211 Food Poisonous Unless Digested. . 246 Food and Virtue 53, 265 Faeces, Source of the in Foul Air, Poor Economy to Save.. 87 Food, The Natural, of Man... 48, 72, 207 Food, 4i Rich," Injurious 88, 153 44 HotorCold? 99 Fasts, Professional, Value of. 74 Fasting, Notable Instances of. 72, 73, 140, 168 Fasting, Constipation Normal dur- ing 107, 112 Fasting Cure, The.. .42, 43, 145, 153, 168 Food as a Purgative 113, 114, 194 Fatty Degeneration 79, 80, 148, 150 Obesity not a Requisite of, 79 Fever , 153 Food, Raw, and Health 217, 223, 224 Flies and Health 97 Fruit. 94, 191, 194 Food, The Quantity of, Relation of Climate to . .^ 117 Fruit vs. Physic 194 Fossil Bodies 24, 183, 246 4< Livers 179 Fasting and Insanity 140 Flesh-food Fallacy, The 158 44 and Bread Compared... 159 44 Often Diseased 160 44 Question, Moral Aspect of the 163 Flesh-food and Heredity 164 44 Unfairness of the Advo- cates of 160 Franklin's Idea of l4 Colds " 171 Gastric Juice, Proportion of, Se- creted 93 INDEX. 293 Gout * 131, 209 Gouty Habit, The, a Symptom of Bright's Disease 131 Guiteau's Appetite 144 Grape-Cure, The 214 Guano and Coffee 248 Gnawing Stomach a Disease 39 Hogs, Experiments on . . . . . 82 Hay-fever. 153, 209 Health Easily Secured i3 M Robust, how Promote I . ..85, 96 41 A Duty 19, 27, 35 u Relation of, to Morals t 7, 54, 265, 270 Health the Safeguard against Con- tagion. 10, 11, 12 Heart Disease « . . 149 How to Keep Well 96 Hints and Aphorisms 154 House-cleaning in the " Living Temple" 155 Hulls, Wheat, Under the Micro- scope ... 187 Hunger Disease, The 201 Hot Air may still be Pure 240 Heart, Palpitation of the, from Cof- fee-drinking 244 Hot Water as a Medicine 98, 100 Herb Drinks and Female Weakness 251 Insomnia and Air-baths 138 " a Symptom only 134 Ignorance and Credulity 22, 23 Insomnia and Coffee 137 Insomnia 133 Indigestion a Phase of Rheumatism 145 Indigestion a Cause of Congestion of the Lungs gg Indigestion from Excess in Diet. .. 93 Intemperance, How Propagated... 55i 5 6 i 261 Insanity and Fasting 140 Insane ? Who Are and Who are Not 134 Insane, The, Usually Ravenous Eaters 141 Infants are " Loved " to Death, How 16 Japanese, Muscular, how fed 161 Kidney Diseases Unknown at the Arctics n6, 117 Koch's Theory of Consumption ... 80 Kitchen-Curse, The . . 233 Laziness a Disease 34, 5S Liver Complaint 168 Livers, u Fossil " 179 Liver, Mercury u to Clear Out" the, 1S0 Lungs, Congestion of, from Indi- gestion 99 Long Faces to the Rear, in Sick- ness 103 Long Life, How Promoted 85 Milk not a Natural Food for Adults. 153 Morality and Digestion 157 Malaria... 236,241,247 Model Meal, A 226 Meals, Number of, for Health %8, 62, 72, 197 Mercury, to "Clear Out" the Liver. __ 180 Milk Fever from Excessive Diet. . . 150 Muscular Japanese, How the, are fed 161 Milk and Biliousness 152 Milk 65,152,212 Mastication, Importance of Thorough '. 92, 93 Moral Torpor a Disease 34 Medicine, Hot Water as a 98, 100 '* Why the Nostrum-mak- ers Thrive 25, 26 Natural Diet, The 207 Nature Defeated by " Treatment." 258 Nightmare from Using Tobacco... 251 Neuralgia, A Hint Concerning . . . 153 Nervous Prostration, A Hint Con- cerning ....... 253 Normal Constipation 107 Night-air Superstition, The 48 Nutrition the Grand Factor in Pre- vention or Cure 58 Nausea and Hot Water 100 Open Windows for Consumptives.. 89 for Sewer Gas 236 Obesity, Natural Cure of. 148 One-meal System, The 62, 197 Organs, How all the Vital, become Degenerated 181 Passions, Influence of Diet upon the _ 265 Passive Exercise for Consumptives. 99 u " lk Constipation. 109, 113 Piles, How, are Produced in Premature Deaths 16, 230 Pneumonia 102 Poison, "One's Meat Another's". 4^ kl How Food becomes 61,246 Providence and Disease.. .... 8, 9, 17 Practice, the Reform, Obstacles to. 66, 05 Physiology a Part of Theology 34 Physic, Good Health the Best. . . toS k * Bad Effects of 107 44 Fruit the Best 104 Pain, the Office of. Friendly 134 Pure Air, Popular Ignorance Con- cerning -\;- Pure Air, How to Ensure it . ;j Physical Independence Prejudice, Popular, against Reform 134 294 INDEX. Purgative, Tobacco as a 250 Purgative, Food as a., 113, 114, 194 Quinine and Caffeine Closely Allied 244 Roman Fever, The Cause o£ 236 Race Horses are Injured, How. . . . 198 Reform, A Rational 234 Reformed Practice, Obstacles to the.. 22,66,95 Rest after Meals. . ...^ 200, 202 Regimen^ The Traditional 12 1 Rheumatism.. ... 145 44 A Phase of Indigestion 145 " Chronic, Treatment for 147 Rich Food a Cause of Biliousness.. 153 Supportive Treatment, The 258 Salisbury Theory, The, of Con- sumption 81 Saline Starvation . 177 Scorbutic (Scurvy) Condition Pre- disposes to Zymotic Diseases. ... 10 Sedentary Life, Effects of a 78, 84 Scrofula, Something About.. ...... _ 175, 194, 229, 231 Sickness, The Absurdity of. 9 Scrofulous Humors, How Manu- factured 231 Self-cure, Mrs. E.'s Story of her own 85 Sewer-gas. 236 Straining at Stool Injurious no Stimulation of the Kidneys Unnat- ural 126 Skin, The Adaptability of the Skin to Sudden Changes of Tempera- ture 35 Sympathetic Nervous System^ The. 31, 46 Starvation, Eating Sometimes Hastens 72 Starvation, Saline 177 Starvation, Dyspeptic 58, 66 Stomach, The, the most abused of all the Organs 46 Sugar, Artificial, Injurious 78 Stomach Baths.. 100 *-' Signs of Disordered 57 Stomachs, Sensitive, and Wheat Hulls 189 Sleeping Alone 106 Sleep, Efforts £o Induce, Self-de- feating »..*35i *3 6 Sun-Baths. ......».»..,... 173 Sunday Headaches, Cause of the. . 20G Symptoms, Controlling The (!).. .. 112 Stimulation from Diphtheritic Poi- son 258 Stimulation, The true Theory about 257 Sleeplessness Cured by Late Eating 144 " an Analogue of Pain» 135 Sunstrokes, Cause of 196 Sleep, Regular Hours for, Neces- sary 135 Summer Tortures, How avoided..* ig$ Traditional Regimen, The ........ 121 Treatment, The " Supportive '\. . . 258 Tobacco and Insomnia 137 " _ as a Purgative**.. 250 Treating in Eating 156 Teeth, One Cau9e of Poor 207, 249 Typhoid Subject, A. 15 Telegraph System, Wonders of the Human 31, 46 Table, A Well-furnished 79 Toothache 153 Thirst, How to Prevent 98, 100 Tongue, The Story Told by the. . . 63 Un naturalness of the Prevailing Diet 227, 265, 266 Variety in Food not desirable. . . .92, 213 Virtue, Influence of Diet on 53, 265 Valance, Poor Thomas 125 Vegetarian Diet and Quantity 161 Vegetarians, Some Noted 51, 161 Vegetarianism and Endurance 161 Vegetable Food.. .48, 51, 52, 72, 158, 161 Vegetables Spoiled by Cooking, How 177 Vinegar Yeast in the Blood, a Cause of Consumption 81, 82 Ventilation 47, 48, 97, 236, 23b, 239 Vickers, The Case of Mr 75 Watermelons, A Stale Joke about. 191 " for Bowel Troubles.. 192 Water as a Medicine . . .98, 100, 113, 190 Weakness from Hot Drinks 251 White Flour, Cone ?rning 49 Worrying, Effects of 85 Waves of Disease ! g Wheat-meal vs. M Entire Flour ". . 184 The Natural Cure : Consumption, Dyspepsia, Nervous Diseases, Gout, Rheumatism, Insom- nia (Sleeplessness), Bright's Disease, etc. By C E. Page, M.D. 12MO, cloth, $i.oo. a few of the many notes from readers. J. Russ, Jr., Haverhill, Mass., says: " Dr. Page r s explanation of the 'colds 1 question is alone worth the price of a hundred copies of the book— it is, in fact, in- valuable, going to the very root of the question of sickness." Mrs. W. O. Thompson, 71 Irving Place, Brooklyn, N. Y., says : " I wish every friend I have could read it, and, only that hygienists never harbor ill-feeling, that my enemies might not chance to find it. I owe much to the truths made clear in 4 Natural Cure,' and it is certain that to it and the professional attendance of the author, my sister-in-law owes her life and present robust health." FROM A TEACHER. Mrs. S. S. Gage, teacher in the Adelphi Academy, Brooklyn, N. Y.,says : "My friend, Mrs. Thompson, recommended this book (* Natural Cure') to me. Thanks to her and k the book,' my old headaches trouble me no more ; I am better in every way. I never could accomplish so much and with so little fatigue ; and I am sure that all my intellectual work is of better quality than it ever was before." FROM A HUSBAND. D. Thompson, Lee, N. H,, says : " Through following the advice in l Natural Cure ' my headaches, which have tortured me at frequent intervals for forty years, return no more. Formerly I could not work for three days at a time, now I work right along, For this, as well as for the restoration of my wife to health, after we had given her up as fatally sick, I have to thank Dr. Page and 4 The Natural Cure.' ? » FROM THE WIFE. Mrs. S. E. D. Thompson, Lee, N. H., says : ** I can not well express my grati- tude for the benefit I have received from the book and its author's personal coun- sel. Condemned to die, I am now well. It k truly wonderful how the power of resting is increased under the influence of the regimen prescribed. I have dis- tributed many copies of this book, and have known of a life-long asthmatic cured ', biliousness removed, perennial kay-J ever banished for good, and other wonderful changes wrought, by means of the regimen formulated in i Natural Cure. 1 A friend remarked : i It is full of encouragement for those who wish to live in clean ■bodies.' Another said: l It has proved to me that I have been committing slow suicide.' Our minister says : 1 1 have modified my diet and feel like a new man.' " To this Mrs. Thompson adds, for the author's first book, " How to Feed the Baby ": " I have known of a number of babes changed from colicky, fretful chil- dren to happy well ones, making them a delight to their parents, by following its advice." William C. Langley, Newport, R. I., says : "While all would be benefited from reading it, I would especially commend it to those who, from inherited feebleness, or, like myself, had declined deeply, feel the need of making the most of their lim- ited powers. I may add, that this work bears evidence that the author has had wide range, and extensive reading, together with a natural fitness for physiological and hygienic research, keen perception of natural law and tact in its application." Mrs. Dr. Densmore, 130 West 44th Street, New York, says : "You can judge of my opinion of 4 Natural Cure'' when I tell you that lam buying it of the publishers by the dozen to distribute among my patients." The Popular Science Monthly for September, 18S3, speaks highly of the work, closing with, w the public has in this work a most valuable manual of Hygiene." The Atlantic Monthly for August, 1S83, savs •' " II is an efl fc>rt at impressing Common-sense views of preserving and restoring health." 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Embracing an Analysis of the Primary Mental Powers in their Various Degrees of Development, and location of the Phrenological Organs. The Mental Phenomena produced by their combined action, and the location of the faculties amply illustrated. By the Fowler Brothers. $1.50. Self-Instructor in Phrenology and Physiology. With over One Hundred Engravings and a Chart for Phrenologists, for the Recording of Phren- ological Development. By the Fowler Brothers. Paper, 50 cts. ; cloth, 75 cts. Synopsis of Phrenology, and Charts for Describing the Phrenological Developments, for the use of Lecturers and Examiners. Paper, 10 cents. Fowler (L.N.) — Marriage, its His- tory and Ceremonies, with a Phren- ological and Physiological Exposition of the Functions and Qualifications for Happy Marriages. Illustrated, $1,250 Redfield's Comparative Physiogno- MY ; or, Resemblances Between Men ana Animals. Illustrated. $3.00. Sizer (Nelson). — Choice of Pursuits; or, What to Do and Why. Describing Seventy-five Trades and Professions, and the Temperaments and Talents required !or each. With Portraits and Biographies of many successful Thinkers and Work- ers. $1.75. How to Teach According to Temperament and Mental Develop- ment ; or, Phrenology in the School-room and the Family. Illustrated. $1.50. Forty Years in Phrenology ; em bracing Recollections of History, Anec- dote and Experience. $1.50. Thoughts on Domestc Life ; or, Marriage Vindicated and Free Love Ex- posed. 25 cents. Spurzheim (J. G., M.D.) — Education; its Elementary Principles Found- ed on the Nature of Man. With an Appendix by S. R. Wells, containing a Description of the Temperaments and a Brief Analysis of the Phrenological Facul- ties. Illustrated. $1.50. Natural Laws of Man. — A Phi- losophical Catechism. Sixth Edition. En- larged and improved. 50 cents. Weaver (Rev. G. S.) — Lectures on Mental Science. According »o the Philosophy of Phrenology. Delivered be- fore the Anthropological Society. Illus- trated. $1.25. Wells (Samuel R.) — New Physiog- NOMY ; or, Signs of Character, as mani- fested through Temperament and Exter- nal Forms, and especially in the M Human Face Divine." With more than One Thousand Illustrations. In one i2mo volume, 768 pages, muslin, $5.00 ; in heavy calf, marbled edges, $S.oo; Turkey morocco, full gilt, $10. "The treatise of Mr. Wells, which is admira- bly printed and profusely illustrated, is probably the most complete hand-book upon the subject in the language. 1 ' — JV. Y. Tribune. Phrenological Bust. — Showing the latest classification and exact location of the Organs of the Brain. It is divided so as to show each individual Organs GO one jide ; with all the groups — Social, Execu- tive, Intellectual, and Moral— pi siGed, on the other side. There are two sizes ; the largest, not mailable, pnee ii. The smaller, 50 cents. Sent by Mail, post-paid. Fowler & Wells, Publishers, 753 Broadii\2\\ Nen York, PHRENOLOGY AND PHYSIOGNOMY, Wells (S. 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Turner, ioc •works on^r n^^o^zsarisiL^L. There is an increasing interest in the facts relating to Magnetism, etc., and we present below a list of "Works on this subject. Practical Instructions in Animal Magnetism. By J. P. F. Deleuze. Trans- lated by Thomas C. Hartshorn. New and Revised edition, with an appendix of notes by the Translator, and Letters from Emi- nent Physicians, and others. $2.00. History of Salem Witchcraft.— -A review of Charles W. Upharn's great Work from the Edinburgh Review, with Notes ; by Samuel R. Wells, contain- ing:, also, The Planchette Mystery, Spirit- ualism, by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Dr. Doddridge's Dream. $1. Fascination ; or, the Philosophy of Charming. Illustrating the Principles of Life in connection with Spirit and Mat- ter. By J. B. Newman, M.D. $1.00. Six Lectures on the Philosophy of Mesmerism, delivered in Marlboro' Chap- el, Boston. By Dr. John Bovee Dods. Paper, 50 cents. The Philosophy of Electrical Psy- chology, in a course of Twelve Lectures. By the same author. i2mo, cloth, $1.25. The Library of Mesmerism and Psychology.— Comprising the Philoso- phy of Mesmerism, Clairvoyance, Mental Electricity. — Fascination, or the Power of Charming. Illustrating the Principles of Life in connection with Spirit and Matter. — The Macrocosm, or the Universe » Without : being an unfolding of the plan of Creation, and the Correspondence of Truths. — The Philosophy of Electrical Psychology ; the Doctrine of Impressions ; including the connection between Mind and Matter ; also, the Treatment of Dis- eases. — Psychology ; or, the Science of the Soul, considered Physiologically and Philo- sophically ; with an Appendix containing Notes of Mesmeric and Psychical experi- ence, and illustrations of the Brain and Nervous System. 1 vol. $3.50. How to Magnetize ; or, Magnetism and Clairvoyance. — A Practical Treat- ise on the Choice, Management and Capabilities of Subjects, with Instructions on the Method of Procedure. By James Victor Wilson. i8mo, paper, 35 cts. The Key to Ghostism. By Rev, Thomas Mitchel. $1.50. Sent by Mai/ } post-paid. Fowler & Wells, Publishers^ 753 Broadway \ ATmu Vork % HEALTH BOOKS. This List comprises the Best Works on Hygiene, Health, Etc. Combe (Andrew, M.D.)— Principles applied to the Preservation of Health and to the Improvement of Physical and Mental Education. Illustrated. Cloth. $1.50. -Management of Infancy, Physi- ological and Moral Treatment. With Notes and a Supplementary Chapter, $1.25. &o4ds (Susanna W., M.D.^Health IN the Household ; or, Hygienic Cook- ery. i2mo, extra cloth, $2.00. Fairchild (M. Augusta, M.D.)— How to be Well; or, Common-Sense Med- ical Hygiene. A book for the People, giving Directions for the Treatment and Cure of Acute Diseases without the use of Drug Medicines ; also, General Hints on Health. Si. 00. Graham (Sylvester). — Science of Human Life, Lectures on the. With a copious Index and Biographical Sketch of the Author. Illustrated, $3.00. Chastity. — Lectures to Young Men. Intended also for the Serious Con- sideration of Parents and Guardians. i2mo. Paper, 50 cents. Gully (J. M., M.D.) — Water-Cure in Chronic Diseases. An Exposition of the Causes, Progress, and Termination of various Chronic Diseases of the Di- gestive Organs, Lungs, Nerves, Limbs, and Skin, and of their Treatment by Water and other Hygienic means. $1.50. For Girls ; A Special Physiology, or Supplement to the Study of General Phy- siology. By Mrs. E. R. Shepherd. $1.00. Page (C E., M.D.)— How to Feed the Baby to make her Healthy and Hap- py. i2ino. Third edition, revised and enlarged. Paper, 50 cents; extra cloth, 75 cents. This is the most important work ever pub' ; sh- ed on the subject of infant dietetics. The Natural Cure of Consump- TION, Constipation, Blight's Disease, Neu- ralgia, Rheumatism, "Colds" (Fevers), etc. How these Disorders Originate, and How to Prevent Them. 121110, cloth, $i.oa Sent by Mail \ post-paid. Hygienic Publishing Co. Horses : their Feed and their Feet. -^A Manual of Horse Hygiene. Invaluable to the veteran or the novice, pointing rut the true sources of disease, and how to pre- vent and counteract them. By C. E. Page, M.D. Paper 50 cts., cloth 75 cts. Diseases of Modern Life. By Ben- jamin Ward Richardson, M.D., M.A., F.R.S. 520 pages, $1.50. The Health Miscellany. An impor- tant Collection of Health Papers. Nearly 100 octavo pages. 25 cents. Gully (J. M., M.D.) and Wilson (James, M. D.)— Practice of the Water-Cure, with Authenticated Evi- dence of its Efficacy and Safety. Con- taining a Detailed Account of the various Processes used in the Water Treatment, a Sketch of the History and Progress of the Water-Cure. 50 cents. Jacques (D. H., M.D.)— The Tem- peraments; or, Varieties of Physical Constitution in Man, considered in their relation to Mental Character and Practical Affairs of Life. With an Introduction by H. S. Drayton, A.M., Editor of the Phrenological Journal. 150 Portraits and other Illustrations. $1.50. How to Grow Handsome, or Hints toward Physical Perfection, and the Philosophy of Human Beauty, show- ing How to Acquire and Retain Bodily Symmetry, Health, and Vigor, secure Long Life, and Avoid the Infirmities and Deformities of Age. New Edition. $1.00. Johnson (Edward, M.D.) — Domes- Tic Practice of Hydropathy, with Fifteen Engraved Illustrations of impor- tant subjects, from Drawings by Dr. How- ard Johnson. $1.50. White (Wm., M.D.)— Medical Elec- TRICITY. — A Manual for Students, show- ing the most Scientific and Rational Ap- plication to all forms of Diseases, of the different Combinations of Electricity, Galvanism, Electro-Magnetism, Magneto* Electricity, and Human Magnetism* 121110, $2.00. Transmission ; or, Variations of C acter Through the Mother. By Gforo IANA B. KlRBY. 25 els.; cloth, 50 Cts, 917 Broadway^ Mew Y&rJt, WORKS ON HEALTH AND HYGIENE. Peck (J. L. ; — The Human Feet.— Their Shape, Dress, and Proper Care. Showing their Natural, Perfect Shape and Construction, their present Deformed Condition, and how Flat Feet, Distorted Toes, and other Defects are to be Prevent- ed or Corrected. Illustrated. $1.00. The Diseases of Modern Life. By B. W. Richardson, M.D. Ex. clo , $1.50. Pendleton (Hester, Mrs.) — The Parents' Guide ; or, Human Develop- ment through Pre-Natal Influences and Inherited Tendencies. Revised Ed. $1.25. Pereira (Jonathan, M.D., F.R.S.)— Food and Diet. With observations on the Dietetical Regimen, suited for Dis- ordered States of the Digestive Organs, an£ an account of the Dietaries of some of the Principal Metropolitan and other Es- tablishments for Paupers, Lunatics, Crim- inals, Children, the Sick, etc. Edited by Charles A. Lee, M.D. $1.40. Shew (Joel, M.D.)— The Family Physician. — A Ready Prescriber and Hygienic Adviser. With Reference to the Nature, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment of Diseases, Accidents, and Casualties of every kind. With a Glossary and copious Index. Illustrated with nearly Three Hundred Engravings. $3.00. Letters to Women on Midwifery and Diseases of Women. — A Descrip- tive and Practical Work, giving Treat- ment in Menstruation and its Disorders, Chlorosis, Leucorrhea, Fluor Albus, Pro- lapsus Uteri, Hysteria, Spinal Diseases, and other weaknesses of Females, Preg- nancy and its Diseases, Abortion, Uterine Hemorrhage, and the General Manage- ment of Childbirth, Nursing, etc. $1.50. Pregnancy and Childbirth, with Cases showing the remarkable Effects of Water Treatment in Mitigating the Pains and Perils of the Parturient State. 50 cts. Tobacco : its Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Effects on the Human System. By Dr. Alcott. New and revised ed., with notes and additions, by N. Sizer. 25 cts. Shew (Joel, M.D.)— Children, their Hydropathic Management in Health and Disease. A Descriptive and Practical Work, designed as a Guide for Families and Physicians. $1.50. Sober and Temperate Life.— The Discourses and Letters of Louis Cornaro on a Sober and Temperate Life. 50 cts. Taylor (G. H., M.D.)— The Move- ment Cure. The History and Philoso- phy of this System of Medical Treatment, with Examples of Single Movements, The Principles of Massage, and Directions for their Use in various Forms of Chronic Diseases. New and Enlarged Ed. $1.50. Massage. Giving the Principles and Directions for its Application in all Forms of Chronic Diseases. i2mo, $1.50. The Science of a New Life. By John Cowan, M. D. Extra cloth, $3x0. Mothers and Daughters. — A Manual of Hygiene for Women. By Mrs. E. G. Cook, M.D. $1.50. Philosophy of the Water-Cure. By John Balbirnie, M.D. 50 cents. Chronic Diseases. — Especially the Nervous Diseases of Women. 25 cents. Consumption, its Prevention and Cure by the Movement Cure. 25 cents. Notes on Beauty, Vigor, and Devel- OPMENT ; or, How to Acquire Plumpness of Form, Strength of Limb, and Beauty ot Complexion. Illustrated. 10 cents. Tea and Coffee.— Their Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Effects on the Human System. By Dr. Alcott. New and revised edition, with notes and ad- ditions by Nelson Sizer. 25 cents. Heredity. — Responsibility and Par- entage. By Rev. S. H. Piatt. 10 cts. Special List. — We have in addition to the above, Private Medical Works and Treatises. This Special List will be sent on receipt of stamp. Sent by Matt, post-paid. Fowler & Wells, Publishers, 753 Broadway, New York, WORKS ON HYGIENE BY R T. TRALL, M.D. Hydiopathic Encyclopedia. — A Sys- tem of Hydropathy and Hygiene. Em- bracing Outlines of Anatomy, Illus'ed ; Physiology of the Human Body ; Hygi- enic Agencies, and the Preservation of Health ; Dietetics and Hydropathic Cook- ery ; Theory and Practice of Water- Treat- ment ; Special Pathology and Hydro- Therapeutics, including the Nature, Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of all known Diseases ; Application of Hydrop- athy to Midwifery and the Nursery, with nearly One Thousand Pages, including a Glossary. Designed as a guide to Families and Students. With numerous Illus. 2 vols, in one. $4. Uterine Diseases & Displacements. A Practical Treatise on the Various Dis- eases, Malpositions, and Structural De- rangements of the Uterus and its Append- ages. Fifty-three Colored Plates. §5. The Hygienic Hand-Book. — Intend- ed as a Practical Guide for the Sick- Room. Arranged alphabetically. $1.50. Illustrated Family Gymnasium — Containing the most improved methods of applying Gymnastic, Calisthenic, Kine- sipathic and Vocal Exercises to the Devel- opment of the Bodily Organs, the invigor- ation of their functions, the preservation of Health, and the Cure of Diseases and Deformities. With illustrations. $1.50. The Hydropathic Cook-Book, with Recipes for Cooking on Hygienic Princi- ples. Containing also, a Philosophical Exposition of the Relations of Food to Health ; the Chemical Elements and Proximate Constitution of Alimentary Principles ; the Nutritive Properties of all kinds of Aliment* ; *he Relative Value of Vegetable and Animal Substances ; the Selection and Preservation of Dietetic Material, etc. $1.15. Fruits and Farinacea the Proper Food of Man. — Being an attempt to prove by History, Anatomy, Physiology, and Chemistry that the Original, Natural, and Best Diet of Man is derived from the Vegetable Kingdom. By John Smith. With Notes by Trall. $1.50. Digestion and Dyspepsia. — A Com- plete Explanation 01 the Physiology of the Digestive Processes, with the Symp- The Mother's Hygienic Hand-Book for the Normal Development and Train- ing of Women and Children, and the Treatment of their Diseases. $1.00. Popular Physiology. — A Familiar Exposition of the Structures > Functions, and Relations of the Human System and the Preservation of Health. $1.25. The True Temperance Platform. — An Exposition of the Fallacy of Alcoholic Medication, being the substance of ad- dresses delivered in the Queen's Concert Rooms, London. Paper, 50 cents. The Alcoholic Controversy. — A Re- view of the Westmmster Review on the Physiological Errors of Teetotalism. 50 c. The Human Voice. — Its Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Therapeutics, and Training, with Rules of Order for Lyceums. 50 cents ; cloth, 75 cents. The True Healing Art ; or, Hygienic vs. Drug Medication. An Address delivered before the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C. Paper, 25 cents ; cloth, 50 cents. Water-Cure for the Million.— The processes of Water-Cure Explained, Pop- ular Errors Exposed, Hygienic and Drug Medication Contrasted. Rules for Bath- ing, Dieting, Exercising, Recipes for Cooking, etc., etc. Directions for Home Treatment. Paper, 25 cts. ; cloth, 75 cts, Hygeian Home Cook-Book; or, Healthful and Palatable Food without Condiments. A Book of Recipes. Paper, 25 cts. ; cloth, 50 cts. Accidents and Emergencies, a guide containing Directions for the Treatment in Bleeding, Cuts, Sprains, Ruptures, Dislocations, Burns and Scalds, Bites of Mad Dogs, Choking, Poisons, Fits, Sun- strokes, Drowning, etc. By Alfred Smee, with Notes and additions by R. T. Trall, M.D. New and revised edition. 25 cts. Diseases of Throat and Lun^s. — Including Diphtheria and Proper Treat- ment. 25 cents. The Bath. — Its History and I'ses 111 Health and Disease. Paper 35c; do,, 30c toms and Treatment of Dyspepsia' and I A Health Catechism. — Questions other Disorders. Illustrated. $1.00. 1 and Answers. With Illustrations, ic cts, Sent by Mail \ post-paid . Powlkr & Wells, Publishers, 753 Broadway , .\V:r York. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. Hand-books for Home Improve- ment (Educational) ; comprising, "How to Write," "How to Talk," "How to Behave," and "How to do Business." One i2mo vol., $2.00. How to Write : a Pocket Manual of Composition and Letter- Writing. 75 cts. How to Talk: a Pocket Manual of Conversation and Debate, with more than Five Hundred Common Mistakes in Speaking Corrected. 75 cents. How to Behave : a Pocket Manual of Republican Etiquette and Guide to Correct Personal Habits, with Rules for Debating Societies and Deliberative Assemblies. 75 cents. How to Do Business: a Pocket Manual of Practical Affairs, and a Guide to Success in Life, with a Collection of Legal and Commercial Forms. 75c. How to Read. — What and Why ; or, Hints in Choosing the Best Books, with Classified List of Best Works in Biogra- phy, Criticism, Fine Arts, History, Nov- els, Poetiy, Science, Religion, Foreign Languages, etc. By A. V. Petit. Clo., $1. How to Sing ; or, the Voice and How to Use it. By W. H. Daniell. 50c ; 75c. How to Conduct a Public Meeting ; or, The Chairman's Guide for Conduct- ing Meetings, Public and Private. 15 cts. Hopes and Helps for the Young of Both Sexes. — Relating to the Forma- tion of Character, Choice of Avocation, Health, Amusement, Music, Conversa- tion, Social Affections, Courtship and Marriage. By Weaver. $1.25. Aims and Aids for Girls and Young Women, on the various Duties of Life. Including Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Development, Dress, Beauty, Fashion, Employment, Education, the Home Re- lations, their Duties to Young Men, Mar- riage, Womanhood and Happiness. $1.25. Ways of Life, showing the Right Way and the Wrong Way. Contrasting the High Way and the Low Way ; the True Way and the False Way ; the Up- ward Way and the Downward Way ; the Way of Honor and of Dishonor. 75 cts. The Christian Household. — Embrac- ing the Husband, Wife, Father, Mother, Child, Brother and Sister. Jj>i.oo. Weaver's Works for the Young, Comprising " Hopes and Helps for the Young of Both Sexes," "Aims and Aids for Girls and Young Women," "Ways of Life ; or, the Right Way and the Wrong Way." One vol. i2mo. $2.50. The Right Word in the Right Place. — A New Pocket Dictionary and Reference Book. Embracing extensive Collections of Synonyms, Technical Terms, Abbre- viations, Foreign Phrases, Chapters on Writing for the Press, Punctuation, Proof- Reading, and other Information. 75 cts. How to Learn Short-Hand ; or. The Stenographic Instructor. An Improved System of Short-hand Writing arranged specially for the use of those desirous of acquiring the art without the aid of a teacher. By Arthur M. Baker. 25 cents. Phonographic Note - Book. — For Students and Reporters. Double or Sin- gle ruled. 15 cents. The Emphatic Diaglott, Containing the Original Greek Text of The New Testament, with an Interlineary Word- for-Word English Translation ; a New Emphatic Version based on the Interline- ary Translation, on the Readings of the Vatican Manuscript (No. 1,209 m the Vat- ican Library). By Benjamin Wilson. 8S4 pp., $4.00 ; extra fine binding $5.00. A Bachelor's Talks about Married Life and Things Adjacent. By Rev. William Aikman, D.D. i2mo, extra cloth, $1.50. Ready November 1. History of Woman Suffrage. — Illus- trated with Steel Engravings. Edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. An- thony, Matilda Josiyn Gage. Complete in Three Octavo Volumes. Price per Vol- ume, Cloth, $5.00. Sheep, $6.50. Life at Home ; or, The Family and its Members. Including Husbands and Wives, Parents, Children, Brothers, Sis- ters, Employers and Employed, The Altar in the House, etc. By Rev. William Aikman, D.D. i2mo, $1.50 ; full gilt $2. A New Theory of the Orig-in of Species. By Benj. G. Ferris. $1.50. Man in Genesis and in Geology , or, the Biblical Account of Man's Creation tested by Scientific Theories of Ms Origin and Antiquity. By Joseph P. Thompson, D.D., LL.D. $1.00. Sent by Mai/, post-paid. Fowler & Wells, Publishers, 753 Broadway \ New York. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. The Conversion of St. Paul. — By Geo. Jarvis Geer, D.D. In three Parts. 1st. Its Relation to Unbelief. 2d. Its False Uses and True. 3d. Its Relation to the Church. $1.00. The Temperance Reformation. — Its History from the first Temperance Soci- ety in the United States to the Adoption of the Maine Liquor Law. $1.50. Man and Woman, Considered in their Relations to each other and to the World. By H. C. Pedder. Cloth, $1. ^Esop's Fables.— With Seventy Splen- did Illustrations. One vol. i2mo, fancy cloth, gilt edges, $1. People's Edition, bound in boards, 25 cents. Pope's Essay on Man, with Illustra- tions and Notes by S. R. Wells. i2mo, tinted paper, fancy cloth, full gilt, price $1. People's Edition, bound in boards, 25c. Gems of Goldsmith: "The Travel- er," •« The Deserted Village," " The Her- mit." With notes and Original Illustra- tions, and Biographical Sketch of the great author. One vol., fancy cloth, full gilt, $1. People's Ed., bound in boards, 25c. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In Seven Parts. By Samuel T. Coleridge. With new Illustrations by Chapman. One vol., fancy cloth, full gilt, $1. People's Ed., bound in boards, 25 cents. Footprints of Life ; or, Faith and N a- ture Reconciled. — A Poem in Three Parts. The Body ; The Soul ; The Deity. Philip Harvey, M. D . $1 .25. How to Paint. — A Complete Compen- dium of the Art. Designed for the use of Tradesmen, Mechanics, Merchants and Farmers, and a Guide to the Profession- al Painter, Containing a plain Common- sense statement of the Methods employed by Painters to produce satisfactory results an Plain and Fancy Painting of every De- scription, including Gilding, Bronzing, Staining, Graining, Marbling, Varnish- ing, Polishing, Kalsomining, Paper Hang- ing, Striping, Lettering, Copying and Ornamenting, with Formulas tor Mixing Paint in Oil or Water, Description of Various Pigments used : tools required, etc. By fr\ B. Gardner. $1.00. The Carnage Painter's Illustrated Manual, containing a Treatise on the Art, Science, and Mystery of Coach, Car- riage, and Car Painting. Including die Improvements in Fine Gilding, Bronzing ; Staining, Varnishing, Polishing, Copying, Lettering, Scrolling, and Ornamenting. By F. B. Gardner. $1.00. How to Keep a Store, embodying the Experience of Thirty Years in Mer- chandizing. By Samuel H. Terry. $1.50. How to Raise Fruits. — A Hand-book. Being a Guide to the Cultivation and Management of Fruit Trees, and of Grapes and Small Fruits. With Descrip- tions of the Best and Most Popular Varie- ties. Illustrated. By Thomas Gregg. $1. How to be Weather-Wise. — A new View of our Weather System. By I. P. Noyes. 25 cents. How to Live. — Saving and Wasting ; or, Domestic Economy Illustrated by the Life of two Families of Opposite Charac- ter, Habits, and Practices, full of Useful Lessons in Housekeeping, and Hints How to Live, How to Have, and How to be Happy, including the Story of M A Dime a Day," by Solon Robinson. $1.25. Oratory — Sacred and Secular, or the Extemporaneous Speaker. Including a Chairman's Guide for conducting Public Meetings according to. the best Parliamen- tary forms. By Wm. Pittenger. $1.25. Homes for All ; or, the Gravel Wall. A New, Cheap, and Superior Mode of Building, adapted to Rich and Poor. Showing the Superiority of the Gravel Concrete over Brick, Stone and Frame Houses ; Manner of Making and Deposit- ing it. By O. S. Fowler. $1.25. The Model Potato. — Proper cultiva- tion and mode of cooking. 50 cents. Traits of Representative Men. With portraits. By Geo. W. Bungay. $1.50. Capital Punishment ; or. the Proper Treatment of Criminals, 10 cents. "Father Matthew, the Temperance Apos- tle," 10 cents. "Good lfaa*s Legacy," 10 cents. Alphabet for Deaf and Dumb, 10 cents. Sent by Mail, post-paid. Fowler & Wells, Publishers, 753 Broadway, Xew York. NOW READY. FIFTH EDITION, REVISED. HOW TO FEED THE BABY, TO MAKE HER HEALTHY AND HAPPY. With Health Hints. By C. E. Page, M.D. i2mo, paper, 50 cts. ; ex. clo., 75 cts. Dr. Page has devoted much attention to the subject, both in this coun* try and in Europe, noting the condition of children, and then making care- ful inquiries as to the feeding, care, etc., and this work is a special record of experience with his own child. We know this manual will be welcomed by many mothers in all parts of the land, as one o^ the most vital ques- tions with parents is How to feed the baby, to promote its health, its growth, and its happiness. In addition to answering the question what to feed the baby, this volume tells how to feed the baby, which is o'f equal importance. That the work may be considered worthy of a wide circulation may be seen from the following, selected from many NOTICES OF THE PRESS. "The hook should be read by every person who has the care of children, especially of infants, and those who have the good sense to adopt its suggestions will reap a rich reward, we believe, in peace for themselves and comfort for the babies." —Boston Journal of Commerce. " We wish every mother and father too could read it, as we believe it is founded on common-sense and the true theory of infantile life." — Eve. Farmer, Bridgeport, Conn. " His treatise ought to be in the hands of young mothers particularly, who might save themselves a deal of trouble by study- ing it . "— Brooklyn Eagle. " Should interest mothers ; for it is a really scientific and sensible solution of the problem of health and happiness in the nursery."— Buffalo Courier. " v How to Feed the Baby • ought to do good if widely read ; for there can be no doubt that thousands of babies die from ignorance on this very subject." — Amer- ican Bookseller. "It is as odd as its title, and is funny, Interesting, entertaining, and instructive." —Times, Biddeford, Me. " We know this manual will be welcomed by many mothers in all parts of the land, as one of the most important questions with parents is how to feed the baby, to promote its health, its growth, and its happiness."— Christian Advocate, Buffalo, N. Y. " Our author makes plain how infantile diseases may, in great measure, be avoided, and infantile Hie made as free and joyous as that of tbe most fortunate among the lower animals."— Central Baptist. "Dr. Page is a benefactor of this age, in having made it a special study— the care and feeding of the infant."— People's Jour- nal. "If mothers would read this book, we think fewer infants would k make night hid- eous' with their cries."— Homestead. "'How to Feed the Baby* should be taken home by every father to the mother of his children, if he values quiet nights. and is not inclined to pay heavy doctors' bills, or bring up sickly children."— Food and Health. "It is safe to say that in proportion as this book is circulated and its teachings followed, will the rate of infant mortality decrease."— Christian Standard. Will be sent by mail, post-paid, to any address on receipt of price 50 cts, Address 2F©-wler 6s "^7"ells, ZP-u/blisla.ezs, 753 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. -A.XT irtv^zFozEvr-A-iNrT "wotvez. THEIE FEED AND THEIE FEET. A Manual of Horse Hygiene, invaluable for the Veteran or the Novice, pointing out the Causes of " Malaria," "Glanders," " Pink Eye," " Distemper," etc., and How to Prevent and Counteract Them. By C. E". Page, M.D., author of " How to Feed the Baby," " Natural Cure," etc., with a Treatise and Notes on Shoeing by Sir George Cox and Col. M. C. Weld. Illustrated with Pictures of many Famous and Thoroughbred Horses. Nearly 200 pages. i2mo, paper, 50 cents; extra cloth, 75 cents. The value of the most of horses to their owners is measured by the amount and length of service that can be secured, and therefore all information relative to his care is very important. This book gives in a condensed form much that is valuable on the care of horses, that has not before been published. The subject is considered from a new and original stand-point, and stated in a plain, practical, com- mon-sense manner, showing how by proper care we may add many valuable years of life and usefulness to our horses. Unlike many books issued on this subject, it does not advertise any medicinci. PAETIAL LIST OF CONTENTS. Foul Air and Disease in Stable and Home ; Blanketing a Steaming Horse ; How to Trans- form a "Seedy" Horse; "Condition 1 ' in Horses ; Why they go Lame Suddenly ; Flesh vs. Fat ; A Soft Horse ; Fatty Degeneration ; Hint to Would-be Race-Winners; Two-meal System ; Extra Feed ; When Injurious ; Dys- pepsia or Indigestion, Symptoms and Cause ; Cause and Cure of vt Pulling "; The Human Puller; "Colds"; What this Disorder really Is, and * How Caused; Prevention of the " Distemper," Its Cure ; Cold Air not Neces- sarily Pure ; Hand - Rubbing vs. Drugs ; Danger of Medication; Concerning the Use of Blanket; Clipping; Eating and Digesting-— the Difference ; Kind of Treatment ; Over- driving ; Over-work ; A Safe Remedy ; Chest Founder; Chronic Disease, Cause; Hints relating to Food and Drink ; Sore Back ; Scrofula; Glanders; Kidney Complaints; Relation of *' Condition " to Reserved Force or Staying Power ; Quantity of Food ; The lust Feed, Corn on the Cob ; Flatulence ; Ciihhing; " Grassing Out''; About the Ap- petite ; Feeding of Road Horses; What a Father-in-Law Learned; How a Truckman Avoided Lost Time, and Improved the Con- dition of his Horse ; Trying to " Make a Horse Laugh " ; First-class Stables ; The Eternal " Mash " ; Veterinary Practice ; Founder ; "Counter Irritation " with a Vengeance ; Eat- ing the Bedding ; Rules that may be Safely Tried ; Check Rein ; Blinders. SHOEING— Ignorance, not Cruelty, to Blame for the Horse's Premature Decay ; Value of Horse Property ; Normal Age of the Horse ; Chief Source of the Horse's Suffer- ing ; One Cause and Cure of Swelled Legs ; Unnecessary Work ; Value of Brakes ; E of Shoe Nails ; " Inconceivable Cruelty." as defined by Mr. Mayhew ; Running Barefoot over Rocky Hills ; Direct and Indirect Bene- fit of Reform ; Everybody but the Black- smith Benefited; Adequacy of the Natural Foot for all Demands ; Independence of the Unshod Horse ; French and English and Mexican Army Experiences; Col. W< Experience; The Experience of Others; Speeding without Shoes ; The Training Character of Horses. To a new edition just published has been added, as plates, a num- ber of portraits of famous and thoroughbred horses, including " Jay- Eye-See," " Parole," "Alcantara." "Miss Woodford," " Estes," etc It is safe to say that to every owner of a horse this book would prove most valuable. AGENTS WANTED, to whom Special Terms will be given. The price is only 50 cents in paper covers, or hand- somely bound in extra cloth. 75 cents. By mail, post-paid. Address FOWLER & WELLS, Publishers, 753 Broadway, New York. Pfliif p in wp pengEpeiiD, OR HYGIENIC COOKERY. By SUSANNA W. DODDS, M.D. One large i2mo volume, 600 pages, extra cloth or oil-cloth binding, price $2.00, ►-« The object of this work is to enable health-seekers, and those who would eat for life and for strength, to furnish their tables with food that is wholesome, and at the same time palatable. Foods as ordinarily cooked, are robbed of their delicious flavors and rich juices, by all manner of wasteful and injurious processes, after which one tries in vain to compensate for these defects, by adding condiments and seasonings ad infinitum. The work is divided into three parts. Part First, giving 44 1 A Iie M.ea£©2X "Wily," contains the philosophy of nutrition, giving the constituent elements of various articles of food, and their relative values, with directions for the proper selection and combination of the different kinds of foo&, and the reasons for some articles being better than others, with dietetic rules and hints in regard to Health in the Household. Part Second contains the u Hy galenic IMetary." Here we have directions for the preparation of food, recipes for cooking, etc., in what the author considers a strictly healthful manner ; including breads of all kinds, the preservation of fruits, vegetables, etc. Part Third is what the author calls " The Compromise," containing directions for preparing food, not strictly in accordance with the Hygienic way, but in such a manner as to render it more plain and health- ful than it is ordinarily found ; and it will prove helpful and suggestive to many who find it difficult, on account of surrounding circumstances, to adopt the more strict Hygienic cookery. Undoubtedly the best and most practical Family Cook-Book, and will contribute very much toward the promotion of Health in the Household. Agents Wanted, to whom special terms will be given. Copies sen by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price. For terms address FOWLER & WEMLS, Puifclisliers, 753 Broadway, New York, 2STOW RE^D^.t*-— FOR A Manual of Hygiene for Woman and the Household. By Mrs. E. G. Cook, M.D. i2mo, extra cloth. Price, $1.50. This work is written from an experience and large observation ex- tending over a quarter of a century. It will, to many who study its contents, lighten the hearts made heavy and sad by years of suffer- ing which has come from ignorance of physical laws. The work opens with a chapter on the importance of physical culture, and graphic pictures are drawn of the girls of the old New England times and those of the fashionable society girls of to-day. The chapter on bones is full of suggestions in making a strong frame-work for the muscles to clothe, and the education of the muscles considered of greater importance (with aids to its accomplishment) than many of the so-called " fine arts," now held to be, by many of our schools, of more importance. Great stress is laid upon the need of selecting studies in educating girls as well as boys, with a view to their uses in after-life, remembering that what is not put into daily practice is soon lost, aaad instead of perfecting the education in these directions, time and money, and shall we add health also, are sacrificed. The chapters on the brain and nervous system, the structure and care of the skin, hygiene and ventilation, are what every one in the house- hold should read, as they are made so plain in the simple style of the author, that children can readily comprehend them. If the knowledge which the chapter on bread and butter sets forth was used, no one could have dyspepsia. The special knowledge which is given to women in order that they may understand the various displacements of the uterus and its dis- eases, will bring long-sought help to multitudes who shall study and practice the teachings given in the chapters devoted to them. The feeding of children ; the rights of children, and the evils of a forced education are all discussed; and the work is fully illustrated with fine engravings. It is safe to predict a great change in the physical well-being of all in the near future, if this book can be placed in the hands of the mothers and daughters in the land. The times arc ripe and ready for the knowledge which it contains. It is handsome bound, contains over 300 pages, and would be a richer gift to either wife or daughter than gold or diamonds. Sent by mail, on receipt -of price, $1.50. Agents Wanted. Address FOWLER & WELLS, Publishers, 753 Broadway, N. Y. GhI"VEIsr -A."W\AT2T o o o CO ^ 5 m & TO THE HRENGLOGIGAL JOURNAL. This publication is widely known in America and Europe, having been before the read- ing world forty years, and occupying a place in literature exclusively its own, viz : the study of Human Xature in all its phases, including Phrenology, Physiognomy, Ethnology, Physi- ology, etc., together with the " Science of Health," and no expense will be spared to make it the best publication for general circulation, tending always to make men better physically, mentally, and morally. Parents should read the Journal that they may better know how to govern and train their children. To each subscriber is given THE PHRENOLOGICAL BUST. This bust is made of Plaster of Paris, and so lettered as to show the exact location of each of the Phrenological Organs. The head is nearly life-size, and very ornamental, de- serving a place on the center-table or mantel, in parlor, office, or study, and until recently has s:>ld for $2.00. This, with the illustrated key which accompanies each Bust, and the articles published in the Journal on "Practical Phrenology," will enable the reader to becojie a successful student of Human Nature. One of these heads should be in the handf of all who would know " How to Read Character." ICozTODGLS- — The Journal is now published at $2.00 a year (having been reduced from $3.00), single numbers 20 cents. When the Premiums are sent, 25 cents extra must be received with each subscription to pay postage on the Journal and the expense of boxing and packing the Bust, which will be sent by express, or No. 2, a smaller size, will be sent by mail, post-paid. To those who have the Bust, or prefer it, we will send the Book Premium. Send amount in P. O. Orders, Drafts on New York, or in Registered Letters. Postage- stamps will be received. Agents Wanted, Send 10 cents for specimen Number, Premium List, etc. Address FOWLER & WELLS, Publishers, 753 Broadway, New York.