Acute diseases represent Nature's efforts to purify and regenerate the human organism by means of inflammatory feverish processes, while in the chronic condition o system is not capable of arousing itself to such acute reactions. It must be prepared for this through natural methods of living and of treatment, as has been explained Volume I of this series.

    Natural treatment of acute diseases tends to relieve congestion, to facilitate the radiation of heat and elimination of morbid matter and systemic poisons from the body. In this way it eases and palliates the feverish processes and keeps them below the danger point without in any way checking or suppressing them.

    While our methods of treating acute diseases have a sedative effect, our treatment of chronic diseases is calculated to stimulate, that is, to arouse the sluggish organism to greater activity in order to produce the acute inflammatory reaction or healing crisis.

    If the unity of disease, as demonstrated in Volume I of this series be a fact in Nature, it must be possible to treat an chronic as well as all acute diseases by uniform methods, and the natural methods must correspond to the primary causes of disease.

    These natural methods may be divided into two groups:

    a) Those which the patient can apply himself, provided he has been properly instructed in their correct selection, combination and application;

    b) those which must be applied by or under the direction of a competent Natural Therapeutic physician.

    To the first group belong diet, fasting, bathing and other water applications, correct breathing, general physical exercise, psychological exercise, corrective gymnastics, air and sun baths, mental therapeutics.

    To the second group belong special applications of the methods mentioned under the first group, and in addition to these, hydrotherapy, Swedish movements, neurotherapy, orificial dilatation, medical treatment in the form of homeopathic remedies, non-poisonous herb extracts, and, most important of all, the right management of healing crises which develop under the natural treatment of chronic diseases.

   The treatment outlined in the following sections applies to all forms of disease listed on page 86 after they have entered upon the chronic stages. In addition to these, we may classify as chronic diseases the following:

Abscesses of Liver Acne Adenoids Addison's disease Amyloid kidney (a form of Bright's disease) Anemia (Primary and secondary) Aneurism Angina pectoris Apoplexy Arterio-sclerosis Arthritis deformans Atrophy of bones Barber's itch Bedwetting Calculi (stones, all kinds) Carcinoma (cancer) Carries of the bones Chorea Cirrhosis of liver Comedones (blackheads) Constipation Congenital malformation of hip joint Dandruff Debility Deformity of spine or other bony structures Diabetes (functional or organic) Dropsy Dyspepsia Eczema, all kinds Emphysema of the lungs

Enlarged prostate Enteritis Epilepsy Erysipelas Fatty degeneration of liver Fatty and fibroid degeneration of heart Goiter Gall-stones Gastric and duodenal ulcers Heart disease (all kinds) Hemorrhoids (piles) Hernia (rupture) Herpes (shingles) Hoarseness Hookworm Hydrothorax Hyperemia of liver Hypochondria Impotence Impetigo (chafing) Infantile paralysis Inflammation of bones (Periostitis) (Osteomylitis) Insanity, many forms Insomnia Interstitial nephritis Leukemia Locomotor ataxia Lungs, all diseases of Lupus Masturbation Necrosis of bones

Nephritis, chronic (Bright's disease) Nervous debility Neuralgia Neuritis Night losses Obesity Edema of the lungs Paralysis of all kinds Passive hyperemia Prolapsus of the rectum Prostatitis Pseudo-angina pectoris Rectal diseases Rachitis Rickets (rachitis) Rheumatism, all forms Sarcoma Scabies Scrofula Sleeping sickness Suprarenal calculus Tapeworm Trichina spiralis Tinea Tricophytina (Ring worm) Tubercular enteritis Tumors, all kinds Ulcers, chronic Varicocele Varicose veins Worm, all kinds Writer's cramp Wry neck

   The ordinary meat-potato-white-bread-coffee-and-pie diet customary in the American home, restaurant or hotel is bound to create, sooner or later, disease conditions in the system. This combination of foods creates in the body large amounts of poisonous acids, alkaloids and ptomains, and does not contain enough of the alkaline mineral elements on which depend the purification of the system from morbid matter and poisons.

    The foods which are generally considered most nutritious,—meat, eggs, dried peas, beans, lentils and cereals,—are the greatest danger foods because they are exceedingly rich in acid producing starches, fats and proteins, and deficient in acid binding and eliminating alkaline elements. These purifying elements can be secured in sufficient amounts only in fruits and vegetables which run low in starches, fats and proteins, but contain large amounts of the mineral salts of iron, lime, potassium, sodium, magnesium and silicon.

    Among the thousands of young people reared in this country whom I have had occasion to examine by diagnosis from the iris, I have found very few who did not suffer to some extent from digestive troubles. It is a fact that the American people, notwithstanding all the natural advantages which they enjoy, suffer more from indigestion, malassimilation, and from the multitude of diseases growing out of these primary causes, than any other people on earth.

    The reason for this is that from the cradle up all the laws and principles governing right eating and drinking are continually violated. The child is allowed to eat and drink what it pleases, and since indulgence in unnatural food and drink creates abnormal appetite, he soon learns to crave those things which are most detrimental to health. As he becomes accustomed to meats, strong spices and condiments, pastry, coffee and tea, he loses all relish for fruits' and vegetables, especially the latter. Piping hot soups and meats are washed down with ice water and mixed with ice cream, which only too often is a mixture of skimmed milk, glue, chemical coloring and artificial flavoring corn-pounds. These unwholesome food combinations are supplemented by large quantities of white sugar and adulterated candies, all of which are very injurious to the system.

    Is it any wonder that the prosperous and well fed American people suffer almost universally from early decay of the teeth, digestive troubles, chronic constipation, hemorrhoids, nervous dyspepsia, appendicitis, rheumatism, cancer, tuberculosis and a host of other diseases directly caused by food and drink poisoning?

    Among the peasantry of European countries the meaning of the words "dyspepsia" and "dentist" is hardly known. A dentist can make a living only in the largest cities. The country people live closer to Nature than do our overfed but mineral starved Americans. In Europe, on account of the high cost of flesh foods, meat is used very sparingly. White sugar, coffee, tea and pastries are holiday luxuries. Ice water is not found even in the homes of the wealthiest people nor in the best hotels. The peasantry and middle class people in northern European countries live largely on whole grain bread, potatoes, vegetable's and dairy products. When they come to this country they are the picture of health and robust strength, but they eagerly adopt American customs of living, believing that meat, white bread and coffee three times a day constitute "high living". The natural result is that in a few years most of them lose their red cheeks and become dyspeptic and nervous like their new compatriots.

    I have frequently observed the gradual lowering of the health standard in descendants of immigrants. In many families you will find the grandfather and grandmother who came from the "old sod" hale and hearty in their old age; the second generation, at middle age, dyspeptic and nervous; and the grandchildren anemic, wearing glasses at a tender age and affected by all sorts of chronic ailments. Statistics show that in our largest cities, where surroundings and habits of living are most unnatural, the fourth city-bred generation dies out unless regenerated by the inflow of fresh, healthy blood of immigrants from Northern Europe, and of the sturdy young people who crowd in from the farming communities to be swallowed up by the insatiable maw of the great city.

   1. Proteins. The belief prevails that in order to make rich blood one must eat large amounts of meat and eggs. The science of Natural Dietetics, however, teaches that the richness of the blood depends not so much on sugars, fats and proteins, as on the positive mineral elements. Almost any ordinary food mixture will provide enough of the former elements of nutrition, but it is much more difficult to provide sufficient amounts of the mineral salts.

    In order to feed the blood with all the elements it needs in the right proportions and in that way to maintain it in a normal healthy condition, one half the diet should consist of fruits and vegetables, and the other half should be made up of starches, sugars, fats and proteins. Meats, if used at all, should be eaten very sparingly. Multitudes of enthusiastic vegetarians have proved that it is better to do without meat altogether. Eggs also should be used sparingly, at an average of not more than four a week.

   2. Coffees and Tea. Coffee and tea have no place in the Natural dietary. They contain powerful nerve stimulants. I believe that their influence on the system, in the long run, is worse than that of weak alcoholic drinks.

   3. White Flour. White bread and pastry should be avoided altogether or used very sparingly. Bread and other cereal products should be prepared from whole meal only. Nothing should be taken away from the grain in the milling process. As a result of the agitation against white flour by Nature Cure people, graham bread, entire wheat health breads and whole grain cereal foods are coming more and more into favor with the public. In this respect the stringent war regulations which by many were considered a great hardship were in reality a blessing in disguise.

    In order to comply with the popular demand for white flour, the hulls and life germs containing the mineral salts, vitamins and valuable ferments, as well as some of the gluten, which is equal in nutritious value to the high priced steak, are "refined" out of the flour and go into the bran. Our domestic animals wax fat and strong on the bran and life germs (shorts), while their masters, living on impoverished white flour products, grow constipated, dyspeptic and nervous. The excessive use of meat, white bread, coffee and white sugar is undoubtedly the most common cause of constipation and the resulting autointoxication.

   4. Vinegar and Condiments injurious. Green vegetables are most beneficial when eaten raw with a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil. Avoid the use of vinegar It is a product of fermentation and a powerful preservative which retards digestion as well as fermentation, both processes being very much the same in character. Lemon juice, being a live vegetable product, rich in vitamins, promotes digestion.

   Do not use pepper, salt or sugar on fruits and vegetables at the table. They may be used sparingly in cooking. Strong spices and condiments are more or less irritating to the mucous linings of the intestinal tract. They gradually benumb the nerves of taste. At first they stimulate the digestive organs, but, like all other stimulants, produce in time weakness and atrophy. Fruits and vegetables are rich in all the mineral salts in the live, organic form, and therefore the addition of inorganic mineral table salt is not only superfluous, but positively harmful.

    The juicy fruits and green leafy vegetables are not improved by cooking. The only foods that are made more digestible by cooking are grains, rice, potatoes and the legumes. Here cooking serves to break up and separate the hard starch granules and to make them more pervious to penetration by the digestive juices.

   5. How to Cook Vegetables—Steaming. After the vegetables are thoroughly washed and prepared place them in the cooking vessel, adding only enough boiling water to keep them from burning, cover the vessel closely with the lid, and let them steam slowly in their own juices. The leafy vegetables (spinach, Swiss chard, beet tops, etc.) contain enough water for their own steaming. If placed in a vessel over a slow fire enough juice will gather in a few moments to prevent burning.

    Cook all vegetables only as long as is required to make them soft enough for easy mastication. Do not throw away a drop of the water in which vegetables have thus been cooked. Use whatever is left for the making of soups and sauces.

   The following methods of cooking the savory vegetables are highly recommended, as they leave in the vegetable after cooking all the tenderness and delicacy of flavor of the raw article.

    For cooking cabbage have the water slightly salted and actively boiling when ready to toss in the finely chopped cabbage. This stops the boiling. Watch carefully for the first signs of bubbling again and immediately turn down the flame or set the vessel where the contents cannot possibly boil. The vessel must not be covered. The cabbage will gradually settle to the bottom and appear as if not cooking, but will be thoroughly done in about twenty-five minutes if the vegetable is fresh. When done it should be instantly removed from the fire, drained and served with butter or white sauce. The flavor is in the volatile oil within the cells, and this oil is thrown off into the air if the cabbage is cooked above the boiling point. Boiling also toughens the woody fiber. If cooked as above there will be no odor and the cabbage will have the same green and white color as before cooking.

    Cauliflower should be cooked in the same manner, first separating the florets.

    Onions should be cooked in the same manner, except that they may be allowed to boil gently.

    Turnips and vegetables of like nature, such as rutabaga and kohlrabi, should be cut in small cubes and cooked in much the same manner, uncovered, in boiling, slightly salted water. These vegetables may be allowed to boil very gently until transparent, and should be removed and drained as soon as the pieces can be pierced with a fork. They should retain their natural color and flavor. Serve with butter or white sauce.

    Cooked in this manner, below the boiling point, almost none of the mineral salts of the vegetables are leached to the water, which has, therefore, little value, but it y be used as a foundation for soups.

    If the vegetables, as is the usual custom, are boiled hard for a long time in a large quantity of water, then drained or, what is worse still, pressed out, they have their nutritive and medicinal value. The mineral salts have vanished down the sink pipe, the remains are insipid and indigestible and have to be soaked in soup stock and seasoned with strong condiments and spices to make them at all palatable. The natural flavors of the vegetables are the most delicious.

   6. In order to insure the full benefits of mouth digestion, the starchy foods should be thoroughly masticated and mixed with saliva.

    The drinking water must be of natural temperature as it comes from well or hydrant.

    Food and drink should never be taken hot or icy cold. This foolish habit will, in time, ruin the best stomach and the finest set of teeth.

    Do not eat when overtired or emotionally excited.

    Do not eat the heavy meal of the day between working hours.

    These are just a few of the more important rules which, if strictly followed, will soon improve the digestion and ensure better elimination and freer movement of the bowels.

    In many instances, however, even the best combination of food and drink will not overcome indigestion and malnutrition, because, through long continued abuse, the digestive organs have become so diseased and atrophied that they cannot properly digest and assimilate even the best of food materials. In such cases the digestive organs must be made more active and alive by the natural methods of sanitarium treatment, such as hydrotherapy, massage, neurotherapy, deep breathing, curative exercises, Swedish movements, air and sun baths, homeopathic remedies and last but not least, by the right mental and emotional attitude.

    For a splendid collection of vegetarian recipes and further advice on natural dietetics, see our Cook Book, Volume III.

   7. A General Vegetarian Regimen. Sample Menus. Breakfast should consist of acid and sub-acid fruits only; or berries only; or raw vegetable relishes only; or of a mixture of both fruits and relishes-for those who have a good digestion.

    If, however, for some reason it is better to take the raw food meal at noon or in the evening, the daily regimen may be adjusted accordingly. For instance, if the raw food is taken at noon, the luncheon foods may be taken in the morning. I find this advisable in cases where people leave early in the morning for work and would otherwise become hungry and faint before noon. In our sanitarium regimen we find the raw fruit breakfast most beneficial.

   Breakfast No.1. Raw acid and subacid fruits, such as orange, grapefruit, apple, grapes, berries, peaches, pears, apricots, cherries, plums, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.

    Breakfast No.2. Raw vegetable relishes or a vegetable salad.

    Breakfast No.3. Raw fruit, in combination with stewed prunes, applesauce, rhubarb, baked apple, etc.

   Luncheon is served at noontime and consists of cereal foods, health bread, rye crisp with butter, cottage cheese, peanut butter or honey. To balance the starchy and protein food we serve vegetable relishes, vegetable salads and sweet alkaline fruits such as figs, dates or raisins.

    This does not mean that many of these foods should be taken at the same time; on the contrary, the more limited the variety representing the various groups, the better is the effect on the system. The weaker the digestive organs, the more care must be taken in the selection and combination of foods.

    In all chronic disease it is of great importance to limit the intake of starchy foods to a minimum, therefore not in more than one kind should be taken at a meal. For instance, if bread or rye crisp is taken, potatoes and cereal should be excluded, and vice versa.

   Luncheon No.1. Steamed wheat with honey and milk; celery or lettuce salad.

    Luncheon No.2. Health bread or crisp with butter or peanut butter; sliced tomatoes or cucumbers; radishes or young onions.

    Luncheon No.3. Shredded wheat biscuit, honey, milk; berries, figs or dates.

    Luncheon No.4. Baked potato, a vegetable salad, stewed fruit, raisins, figs or dates.

    Luncheon No.5. A raw vegetable relish, a cooked vegetable, baked or boiled potato, alkaline fruits, berries, nuts.

    Luncheon No.6. Vegetable salad, soft boiled or poached eggs, health bread or rye crisp, raw or stewed fruit or berries.

    Nuts, figs; dates or raisins may be taken in moderate quantities with any luncheon combination.

   Dinner No.1. Relish—cucumbers; Salad—raw carrot salad; Vegetables—beets and greens, new peas, steamed potatoes; Dessert—strawberries.

    Dinner No.2. Relish—celery, ripe olives; Salad—pineapple salad; Vegetables—buttered cabbage, macaroni and tomatoes; Dessert—raisins.

    Dinner No.3. Relish—radishes, ripe olives; Salad—fruit salad; Vegetables—vegetable roast and brown gravy, spinach, mashed potatoes; Dessert—ice cream.

    Dinner No.4. Relish—raw asparagus or cauliflower; Salad—tomato salad; Soup—vegetable soup; Vegetable — carrots and peas, baked potatoes; Dessert—fruit tapioca and cream.

    Dinner No.5. Relish—green onions; Salad—Waldorf Astoria; Vegetables—asparagus, vegetable stew, baked potatoes; Dessert—rhubarb pudding.

   8. Raw Food Diet. Sample Menus. A. This diet consists of raw foods,—fruits, berries and leafy, juicy vegetables. Vegetables may be taken with dressing of lime or lemon juice and olive or other vegetable oil. No starchy foods or vegetables such as bananas, potatoes, or cereals must be included.

    B. This diet takes in all fruits, berries, vegetables, nuts and cereals that can be relished in the raw state. It also includes all raw dairy products, honey and raw or soft-boiled eggs. The foods may be selected and combined for the various meals according to individual taste and requirements.

   Breakfast No.1. Vegetable relishes or vegetable salads.

   Breakfast No.2. One or two kinds of raw fruits or berries with or without milk or cream.

   Luncheon No.1. Dates, figs, raisins or currants with crushed cereals or vitamine or nuts.

    Luncheon No.2. Bananas, apples, nuts or vitamine with milk or honey.

    Luncheon No.3. Combination salad of grated beets or carrots, sweet corn, asparagus or cauliflower; nuts or bananas with any kind of vegetable salad.

    To any of these may be added milk, buttermilk, sumik, vitamine, raw eggs or honey.

   Vitamine. This is a very nutritious and palatable combination of cereals, nuts, and raisins or currants. On a hand grain mill crush wheat and rye, mix one pound of this with one quarter pound of crushed nuts or whole pine nuts. To this mixture add one quarter pound of seedless raisins or currants. One may also add ad libitum chopped dates, figs or prunes. It is best not to mix the vitamine with milk or cream, as this would prevent thorough mastication. Milk or other drink may be taken separately as required.

   9. Dry Diet. Our dry diet is a modification of the Schroth Cure much in vogue in European sanitariums. Under the latter regimen patients are fed on dry toasted bread with moderate doses of light wine. No other drink is given until excessive thirst forces it. The diet is accompanied by eliminative hydropathic applications such as wet packs, bed sweat baths, etc. While this has proved very effective in the treatment of the most stubborn chronic diseases, the dry fruit diet is to be preferred for the following reasons:

    The dry diet promotes elimination because it draws the fluids from the tissues and with these the pathogenic materials encumbering the system. But why use for this purpose food like toasted bread, when the large amounts of starches and proteins it contains tend to create more pathogenic materials? Why not use in its place dried fruits which are in themselves rich in the eliminative mineral elements and which serve as well the purpose of dehydrating the tissues?

    The thickening of the blood and lymph streams with pathogenic materials has a depressing effect upon brain and heart. This undesirable condition Scroth tried to overcome by giving light wine but alcoholic stimulation is always followed by corresponding depression and therefore nothing can be gained by it. 

 The dry diet, for obvious reasons, usually produces profuse mucoid elimination all through the system. It frequently hastens the development of healing crises.

    As a rule patients endure the dry food diet from one to two or three days only. It should then be followed by a raw food regimen.  

   10. Milk Diet. Milk is the only perfect, complete or standard food combination in Nature.

    This is evident from the fact that it contains all the elements of nutrition which the new born infant body needs, not only for its vital activities but also for the building of its rapidly multiplying cells and tissues. It is for this reason that Dr. Lehmann, one of the pioneers of Nature Cure, selected the chemical composition of milk as a standard, or yard stick, by which to measure all other normal food combinations. This has been fully described in the A B C of Natural Dietetics, Volume III of this series.

    The following analysis of cow's milk and human milk shows that there is very little difference between the two.

    As a matter of fact, cow's milk is to be preferred because it contains more positive mineral elements than human milk. This is due to the fact that cattle, especially those on pasture, consume more of natural foods fresh from the soil and rich in mineral salts. This is the reason why calves do not suffer from rachitic diseases, as do infants fed by anemic, mineral-starved mothers.

    This praise of milk as natural food frequently provokes the question, why then not live on milk entirely? To this I reply that while milk is the natural food for the new born and growing infant, it is not so well adapted to the adult. The digestive apparatus of the infant is especially adapted to the digestion of milk, while that of the adult requires more solid and bulky food. The advent of the teeth indicates that Nature intends to change from fluid to solid food.

    The liver is especially concerned in the digestion of milk. This organ is comparatively three times larger in the infant than in the adult. The digestive juice of the stomach in the infant is alkaline; it is acid in the adult. Therefore milk in the stomach of the infant curds; in the stomach of the adult it curdles.

    The stomach and upper parts of the intestines in the infant form almost a straight tube, and the contents of the former are easily discharged, while in the deep curvature of the adult stomach the milk easily stagnates. The more relaxed and atrophic the stomach, the worse for the digestion and discharge of milk. Furthermore, the digestive processes and peristaltic action in the young child are much more active than in the adult. This explains why not everybody can use milk as a food or medicine—why in many instances it causes biliousness, fermentation and constipation.

    Patients have come to us from institutions where practically everybody is subjected to the sweet milk diet. Under long continued, forced milk feeding they had become so constipated that the bowels could not be made to move by any means whatsoever. They were literally pasted together with colloid materials. It required several weeks of careful management and treatment to bring about a natural movement of the bowels. Milk causes constipation because it contains large amounts of soft, pulpy, cheesy matter, which tends to coagulation and slime formation. On the other hand, it does not contain sufficient tough cellulose matter which stimulates the peristaltic action of the bowels and acts at the same time as a most efficient scourer and cleanser. It is for this reason that we frequently find it advisable to give fruits and leafy vegetables with the milk diet.

    In cases where it is easily digested a straight sweet milk diet often proves very beneficial. We prescribe it frequently with splendid results. As a rule, however, it is better to take fruits or leafy vegetables with the milk.

    A great deal of chronic disease is caused by starch and protein poisoning, i.e., autointoxication, due to the pathogenic materials such as acids, ptomains, alkaloids and xanthins, resulting from starch and protein digestion.

    Since milk contains no starch at all, only low percentages of proteins and fats, and considerable amounts of mineral salts, it will be seen that a straight milk diet means a mild form of protein and starch starvation, which favors the elimination of pathogenic products. However, a study of the comparative analyses of milk, fruits and vegetables will show that juicy fruits and juicy, leafy vegetables are much lower in proteins and fats than is milk, and much richer in mineral salts. Furthermore, the tough, bulky cellulose waste of fruits and vegetable acts as good scouring material for the stomach and bowels. This is the reason why in most instances we prefer a fruit and vegetable diet to the milk diet.

    The prevalent idea that acid fruit juices do not behave well when taken with sweet milk is another popular fallacy. The only food material I know of with which fruit acids do not agree very well is starch, and milk does not contain starch. The digestion of protein materials in the milk requires an acid medium and the sugar or glucose in the milk is already predigested, therefore I do not know of anything in milk that is incompatible with fruit acids. Practical experience also proves this to be true. As a matter of fact, I have met with many confirmed dyspeptics who could not digest milk unless they took acid fruit juices with it.

    There is one method of forced milk feeding that is particularly revolting to me. It is patterned after the Weir Mitchell rest-cure and stuffing treatment. The patient is put to bed and prohibited from making the slightest exertion. He is then given one, two or three tumblerfuls of milk every half hour, according to his capacity. The most remarkable results in the way of flesh and energy building are claimed for this stuffing treatment. It is especially intended for patients who are extremely weak and emaciated. Often they gain a pound or more each day. One advocate of the milk diet describes its beneficial effects as follows:

   "Within two hours the action of the heart will have greatly accelerated, and within twelve to twenty four hours there will be a gain of about six beats to the minute. The pulse will be full and bounding, the skin flushed and moist, and the capillary circulation quick and active. This natural increase in the circulation results from the increased amount of blood assimilated by the stomach and intestines."

    In the first place, I do not consider the forced circulation a "natural" result. It is in reality caused, not by the increased amount of blood", but by the enormously increased amounts of water in the blood and tissues. This to some extent accounts for the increase in weight. Another reason for the sudden increase in weight is the abnormal fat formation. Large amounts of water in the tissues of the body deaden the processes of oxidation and favor fat formation, but this is an unhealthy process. A lymphatic or watery condition of the system is one of the principal causes of obesity.

    But suppose new flesh and fat cells are formed under the "masting" process, which, however, is hardly possible in so short a time; this would simply mean increasing disease in the system. To put flesh and fat on a diseased body means an increase of diseased cells and tissues. The new or "daughter" cells are formed by division of the mother" cells. The daughter cells are therefore of exactly the same material as the mother cells. In other words, if the protoplasm in the mother cells is abnormal or diseased it will be the same in the daughter cells.

    It is for this reason that under natural treatment we first endeavor to purify the blood and tissues of all abnormal products through natural diet and treatment. This usually entails some loss in weight, which we welcome as a sure indication of elimination and regeneration. After these stages of elimination and purification, with their healing crises, have been safely passed, then come the periods of regeneration and up building of new blood and tissues. What is thus gained will be pure and wholesome. Therefore we favor the various forms of milk diet during the last regenerative or up building stages of treatment.

    I make these statements backed by much experience in our institutional practice. We have treated many patients who had undergone the stuffing (masting) milk cure treatment for many months at a time, but the results had been only partly beneficial, and these in many instances were far outbalanced by detrimental after effects.

    A gentleman who has become one of the most efficient members of our staff suffered for twenty years from a bad form of arthritic rheumatism. Among many other things, he had taken for eight months the forced Milk Cure, but without receiving any appreciable benefit. Under our strict raw food diet and neurotherapy treatment he experienced marked improvement from the start. During the sixth month he passed through a remarkable healing crisis in the form of malarial fever. Such a fever had been "cured" with quinine twenty years before. From this suppression dated the beginning of his chronic "rheumatism". The healing crisis was treated in the natural way, and from that time on he improved more rapidly than ever and regained mobility of the ankylosed joints.

    Another young man who is now under our treatment had suffered for years from extreme emaciation and nervous weakness, due to indigestion and malassimilation. He also tried the forced milk treatment (forced milk feeding while lying in bed), but to no avail. He finally had to abandon it on account of the aggravation of all his symptoms. He is now gaining under natural diet and treatment, which had to change the abnormal condition of his ductless glands before he could gain by the milk or any other diet. The swamping of the system with enormous quantities of milk in this case had only aggravated the abnormal condition of these wonderful organs by increasing colloid obstruction and the percentage of leukocytes.

   a)  Straight Milk Diet. When the system, through natural diet and treatment, has been duly prepared for the up building process, then the straight milk diet may be applied to good advantage. Under this regimen the patient receives no 'other food but sweet milk. It is taken every hour or half hour, in quantities ranging from one to two glasses (one half to one pint).

    The milk should always be sipped slowly. Masticating is of no particular benefit, as it contains no starch. Those who enthusiastically advocate prolonged mastication of milk forget that the ferment (ptyalin) of the saliva acts starch only. On the other hand, it is certainly not advisable to take the milk down in great gulps. It is important that it should mix gradually and thoroughly with the gastric juice, which acts upon the protein matter the milk. If large quantities of milk create revulsion or unpleasant results, acid fruit juices, or better still the meat of acid fruits such as lemon, grape fruit, lime or orange will give relief and create better tolerance for the milk.

    If one finds it impossible to take large quantities of milk every hour or half hour, from the start, smaller quantities may be taken at intervals. For instance, one half pint every hour the first day, one pint every hour the second day, one pint every half hour the third day. The quantity of milk to be consumed per day depends upon the size and weight of the patient. It may range from three quarts per day for a person weighing from ninety to one hundred pounds and suffering from indigestion and malassimilation, to eight or ten quarts per day for a person large size and weight and endowed with fairly good digestive capacity.

   b) Milk Diet for Fleshy People. Those who suffer m an overabundance of fat and flesh must take milk lily in moderate quantities, say, from two to five quarts sweet skim milk daily. The cream, in such cases, would only tend to perpetuate and increase fat formation. In many cases of obesity a straight skim milk or buttermilk is a splendid remedy for reducing fat. As I said before, the milk diet means a mild form of starch and protein starvation. On the other hand, it increases the activity of the kidneys and flushes the capillaries. In such cases the sweet skim milk may be reinforced by acid fruits taken either with the milk or between the milk feedings.

   c) Buttermilk Diet. We find that with many people buttermilk agrees much better than whole milk or skim milk. Others cannot tolerate it at all. The buttermilk may be taken at intervals similar to those prescribed for sweet milk, but not in excessive quantities. I find by experience that on an average one half or one third of the sweet milk quantity is sufficient for the buttermilk. Buttermilk is especially beneficial in cases of low acidity of the stomach and a tonic for an atrophic condition of the intestines. Quite often it can only be determined by some experimentation whether sweet milk or buttermilk diet is most beneficial in a given case.

   d) Sour Milk, Clabber or Sumik Diet. Sour milk, may be prepared in various ways, either by exposing whole or skimmed sweet milk to warm air, or by enclosing unskimmed sweet milk in an air-tight jar or bottle. It is allowed to remain in ordinary living room temperature of from 60 to 70 degrees until the milk has become clabber. The clabber is produced by lactic acid fermentation under proper conditions. However, strictest cleanliness must be observed in the preparation of the sour milk, or germs of putrefaction may enter and create a dangerous product. The longer it is allowed to stand in a warm temperature the more acid it becomes. After being properly soured, or clabbered, it should be thoroughly stirred or aerated with an egg beater until it assumes the consistency of thick cream. This is called sumik. With some patients it agrees splendidly, while others cannot tolerate it. Sumik may be taken at intervals and in quantities the same as sweet milk or buttermilk.

   e) Natural Milk Diet. Under this regimen, whole or sweet skimmed milk, buttermilk, sumik or clabber may be taken at intervals and in quantities in accordance with the desire and capacity of the patient. In many instances this will prove the best of all methods. The patient should be encouraged to take milk as frequently and in as large quantities as he can easily tolerate.

    With the various milk regimens, water should be taken only when distinctly desired. Ordinarily milk contains more water than the system requires.

   f) Milk and Fruit Diet. I have found the following milk and fruit combination diet of greatest benefit in a majority of cases. While many patients can take acid fruits to good advantage with the milk, I have found it of greater benefit, in many cases, to give sweet alkaline fruits, such as figs, dates, prunes, raisins, dried currants, etc., with the milk, and acid or subacid fruits between the milk feedings.

   g) Milk and Acid Fruit Diet. Many people who become bilious and constipated on a straight milk diet or who develop quickly a revulsion to milk, will tolerate the milk and digest it much better if they take with it acid or subacid fruits, such as lemons, limes, grape fruit, oranges, or berries. They should be allowed to partake of fruit as often as desired but should be cautioned not to take any more fruit than necessary to counteract the unpleasant effects of the milk.

    The following mixed fruit and milk diet has proved beneficial to many patients who for some reason or another cannot take the straight milk diet:

    Breakfast: One to three pints of milk, sipped slowly. With the milk take any of the sweetish alkaline fruits, such as melons, pears, prunes, dates, figs, raisins, or raw vegetable relishes such as celery, raw cabbage, water cress, green onions, carrots, etc.

    At ten A.M.—One of the following fruits: Grape fruit, oranges, peaches, apples, apricots, berries, grapes or any other acid or subacid fruit.

    Luncheon: The same as breakfast.

    At three P.M.—The same as at 10 A.M.

   Supper: The same as breakfast.

    An orange or apple may be taken before retiring.

   11) The Exclusive Meat Diet. Through theoretical research as well as through actual experience in an extensive institutional practice, I have become convinced that in the great majority of diseases a well balanced vegetarian diet is essential to improvement and cure.

    However, there are exceptions to this, as to any other rule. In the treatment of certain negative physical and psychical conditions, when the vitality is below par, when the digestive organs have grown so weak that they cannot properly digest and assimilate the ordinary vegetable foods, we have found it advantageous to put these patients, temporarily, on a partial meat diet

    Then, again, there is a certain type of dyspeptic patient who, on account of abnormal conditions of the digestive organs, cannot digest and assimilate starchy foods. In these cases even small amounts of starches cause fermentation, gas formation and many other distressing symptoms. Usually these people are so weak that they cannot subsist on an exclusive fruit and vegetable diet. Both fruits and vegetables cause more or less distress in the way of indigestion and gas formation. In such cases we have found various forms of meat diet of temporary benefit.

    In the following pages I shall describe a few meat regimen that have proved beneficial in many instances.

   a) Salisbury Exclusive Meat Diet. One who has had much experience with this dietetic treatment describes the Salisbury exclusive meat diet as follows:

    "Dr. Salisbury claims that consumption (tuberculosis) is caused by fermentation of food in the stomach, and that the cure consists in excluding those foods which ferment and confining the diet to the most nutritious as well as the most easily assimilated food, beef being the best.

   Broiled round steak, from the third to the sixth cut, is as being the most nutritious and having the waste in the form of fat, bone or any undesirable tissues.

    "The best preparation for broiling is as follows: Remove the round bone, together with the outer rind of tissue and fat, also the tough fibers running through the beef, then cut into pieces small enough to go into a meat grinder and reduce the whole to a pulp. If one has no meat grinder, then the beef may be chopped in a tray, but care must be used that there be no stringy fibers left in pulp. Shape the beef into a compact layer, not over three quarters of an inch in thickness, using the edge of the knife to avoid pressing the beef into a livery, soggy mass. When ready to broil, slide from the plate onto a close meshed wire broiler, and cook over live coals or lit blaze until done through,—the redness of the meat gone—when it should be served hot, with salt and butter to taste. Salt after cooking, as salt applied before cooking hardens the beef.

    "If it is not convenient for one to broil the beef over or a bright blaze, then a spider or frying pan may be used if it is allowed to get very hot before sliding the beef into it from the plate. When ready to turn, put the plate over the beef and turn all the way over and slide the beef again into the spider, uncooked side down, and finish cooking."   

   * "Give seven mouthfuls of beef to one of toasted bread boiled rice,—whole wheat bread being preferred to white flour bread, which has been deprived of some of its desirable qualities."

* This is not in accord with Natural Dietetics as explained in Vol. III.

   b) Hot Water Drinking. This same authority advocates the drinking of hot water as a preserver of health and as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of chronic disease, but many of his claims in its behalf are directly contrary to the teachings of orthodox physiology and food chemistry as well as to Natural Therapeutic philosophy.

   It is evident why the Salisbury meat diet requires enormous quantities of hot water to counteract its bad effects upon the system. The ingestion of such large masses of meat, unbalanced by mineral salt, foods, would cause excessive accumulation of colloids, alkaloids of putrefaction and other pathogenic materials, if these were not washed out of the system by correspondingly large amounts of hot water. Excessive thirst, of which the author speaks, is caused by the increased oxidation of morbid products. Thirst disappears almost entirely under a well balanced vegetarian diet. This explains why an exclusive meat diet necessitates the hot water flushing.

   I would recommend the exclusive Salisbury meat regimen only in exceptional cases of incipient or advanced tuberculosis or in other cases which exhibit positive intolerance of starchy and vegetable foods.

    A meat diet may prove beneficial also in cases of abnormal psychism caused by negative physical and mental conditions described in Volume I. In such cases the meat diet has a tendency to fortify the animal magnetism of the psychic and thus to break contact with conditions on the spiritual plane. Even in most of these cases a vegetarian diet including the dairy products will bring all the good results without the danger of uric acid poisoning which is always present under an exclusive meat diet. I have seen many people cure themselves through the Salisbury method from carbonic acid poisoning due to an excessive starch diet, only to develop serious forms of uric acid poisoning, such as rheumatism, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.

   c) Combination Meat and Vegetable Diet. Breakfast: Acid and subacid fruits. Dinner: A small portion of roiled Salisbury steak, rare broiled beefsteak, mutton, ire roast beef, or roast mutton, with raw vegetable relishes, salads and one cooked leafy (not starchy) vegetable. Supper: A raw or soft-boiled egg three times a week, together with a baked or boiled potato and vegetable relishes or salads. On other evenings a slice or two of health bread or a dish of cereal, together with vegetable relishes, salads, olives, figs, dates or raisins.

    Any one meal must not contain more than three of these varieties of foods. In cases where starchy foods are not tolerated, Salisbury steak or meat in some form may be substituted for cereals or bread.   

   d) Modified Combination Meat and Vegetable Diet. Under this regimen starchy foods are restricted to a minimum. A small portion of meat is allowed three or four times a week.

    Suitable foods besides meat are acid and subacid fruits, especially for breakfast: Raw vegetable relishes and salads, cottage cheese, cooked vegetables, olives, dates, figs, raisins, nuts in moderate quantities; eggs (raw, soft boiled or poached) in moderate quantities-not more than four a week; cereals, bread and potatoes, if used at all, in very moderate quantities only, but not in combination with meat or with acid fruits.

   One of the most common complaints of the sick is that they have "lost their appetite". They seem to imagine that this is a terrible affliction. Quite the reverse is true however. In the majority of cases Nature takes away the appetite because a fast is needed. They do not know that the greatest blessing to them would be to "lose their appetite" long enough to find their hunger. Loss of appetite is simply an indication that the system is overcharged with pathogenic matter and that Nature is trying to stop the eating long enough to give these clogging, benumbing or irritating accumulations a chance to escape from the system, or it may be that the digestive organs are too weak to take care of large quantities of food. However, the laity for ages has been encouraged by the medical profession in the idea that to lose the appetite and miss a few meals is a great calamity; that this must be prevented by taking powerful stimulants in the form of appetizers and tonics. These serve to create a false and artificial appetite and cause the sufferer to stuff the weak stomach with more food, while that taken in previous meals is fermenting and putrefying, filling the system with noxious poisons.

    Many people are learning the trick of curing their colds, headaches, nervous spells and other acute troubles, by missing a few meals or taking a short fast. It is the quickest, simplest and most efficient method of relieving the overloaded, food poisoned system. We would be surprised if we knew how little food is actually required to keep the human organism in good condition. The majority of people are food poisoned,—even those who believe they are eating moderately.

    Cornaro, the great Italian Nature Cure apostle, who lived in Venice in the Fifteenth Century, proved these facts which humanity at large has not digested and taken advantage of even at this late day. At forty he was dying chronic diseases resulting from overeating, drinking and riotous living generally. Being gifted by nature with some intelligence and will power, he essayed to cure himself by reversing his habits of living, i.e., by reducing the daily allowance of food and drink to a minimum.

   For nearly forty years his daily allowance of solid food was not more than twelve ounces. Then he yielded to the urging of his relatives and friends, who believed that he was starving himself, and took a few ounces more of food than his former quota. The result was that he immediately began to feel most miserable, both physically and mentally and his former good health and energy did not return until he reduced his daily allowance to the old, accustomed twelve ounces.

    After the age of eighty he wrote several books on matters of health, and particularly his own experiences. His most pretentious work, which is even now in print and widely read, he finished when he was over one hundred years old. The history of this man and his experiences with moderate living and fasting should be taught in every school in the land. 

    1. The Physiology of Fasting. Fasting is undoubtedly of the most potent and incidentally the cheapest of all natural remedies. The reason why it is not more universally applied is that the laity at large, as well as the medical profession, are under the impression that the interruption of eating even for a brief period will greatly reduce the vitality of the individual.

    This popular fallacy is caused by the belief that food and drink are the only sources of strength. In other parts of these writings (see Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics and Nature Cure Cook Book) I have shown that this is not so—that the life force which is the real source of our vitality or strength is entirely independent of our material bodies (physical and spiritual) and of food, drink, medicines, tonics and stimulants; that this life force flows into us from the source of all life, intelligence and creative force in the universe; from that which we variously call God, Nature, Universal Intelligence, the Oversoul, the Will to Live, and by many other names. If people fully realized this fact they would not be in such great fear of missing a few meals or of undergoing a more or less prolonged fast.

    Fasting as a remedy is fully in harmony with our philosophy of the causes of disease. If disease is created through abnormal composition of blood and lymph and through accumulation of morbid matter in the system, it stands to reason that fasting will help to eliminate from the system waste matter and morbid accumulations. The most difficult feature about fasting is the breaking of the eating habit. Therefore the first three or four days of fasting are always the hardest. They are usually accompanied by craving for food, nervous disturbances, mental depression, headaches, sleeplessness, etc. We must remember that eating is the oldest and most firmly established of all habits. Therefore it is not easily broken.

    After the habit is broken, which usually requires two or three days, fasting becomes easier day-by-day. One reason for this is that about the third or fourth day the mucous membranes of the intestines begin to eliminate morbid matter. The processes of assimilation have come to a standstill. The membranous linings of the stomach and intestines, which ordinarily act as sponges for the absorption of food materials, are now throwing off effete matter from the system. The sponge is being squeezed. This is indicated by the fetid breath and coated tongue which reflect the foul condition of the digestive organs. These are not fit to digest or assimilate food; therefore hunger ceases.

    The system now has to draw for food upon its reserve stores. The waste and morbid materials are stirred up and eliminated first.

    When we consider that the digestive canal from mouth to anus is about twenty six feet long and lined all through with eliminating cellular and glandular structures, then we can better appreciate the purifying effect of a protracted fast. One need not fear the weakening effects of fasting, since of late years it has been proved in thousands of cases that fasts of even forty, fifty and sixty days duration have no perceptible weakening effect upon the system, unless the patient be greatly weakened and emaciated by disease at the beginning of the fast.

    One of our patients recently finished a forty nine day fast. At the end of it he felt actually stronger than he did at the beginning. Up to the last day he took long walks. At the same time the chronic troubles which were caused by drug poisoning and surgical operations were greatly alleviated.

    The foregoing explains why short fasts of from one to three days duration have not a decided curative effect. It takes that much time to start the eliminative processes the linings of the intestines. As soon as food is taken these processes are interrupted and reversed. I would consider seven days a short curative fast. Shorter fasts may be taken, however, in order that one may become gradually accustomed to the practice.

    In this as well as in many other things, much depends upon the right mental attitude. If one fears the effects of fasting and believes that it is going to weaken him, this causes mental and nervous depression which is bound to react disastrously upon his system. H, on the other hand, one becomes thoroughly convinced that rational fasting cannot injure the system, that whether eating or abstaining from food the life force will flow into the body just as abundantly, then the fasting will greatly facilitate the elimination of waste and pathogenic matter and there will be no mental apprehension and no nervous uneasiness to affect the system and to interfere with the grand house-cleaning.

    Many of our patients have undergone protracted fasts, but. I do not remember a single instance in which any one of them has been injured through the practice. We carefully observe the physical and mental condition of the patient from day to day and interrupt the fast when such action is indicated.

   2. Danger Signals in Fasting are rapid and prolonged loss of weight approaching the danger line; serious and prolonged mental depression and the appearance of psychical symptoms such as clairvoyance or clairaudience, which indicate abnormal psychism due to an extremely negative physical and mental condition. Also the fast should be interrupted when a patient shows great fear and apprehension of its weakening effects, as the destructive effects of anxiety and worry might overbalance the benefits to be derived from the fast. In such eases it is better to postpone a protracted fast to a time when the mental and emotional conditions are more positive.

   3. How Long Should One Fast? I never prescribe the length of a fast beforehand. Even when I am convinced that a prolonged fast of two, three or four weeks is indicated, I would not inform the patient to this effect. I usually tell him that we shall extend or shorten the fast according to the effects it produces; that we may continue it for a few days or for a week or more, according to changing conditions. This assures the patient that the fast is not going to be continued beyond his powers of endurance. It is much easier for him to fast from day to day than to look forward to a long fixed period.

    The practice of fasting until the tongue becomes dean, the breath sweet and natural hunger returns is a rather dangerous one. I have found in many eases that the symptoms of a foul condition of the digestive organs would not disappear after four or five weeks' of fasting nor would there be the slightest manifestation of hunger, and in several such eases it seemed doubtful whether breath and tongue would clear up before the patient was ready for the undertaker.

    It is much safer to break the fast before the desired results have been fully obtained and to repeat it after a period of recuperation. The digestive organs may be in such a diseased condition that it is impossible for them to become normal through one prolonged fast.

   Several patients have come under our care who had protracted the fast too long while waiting for the cleaning up. One of these patients is with us now, just recuperating from a complete collapse caused by excessive fasting. When she finally tried to eat, her digestive organs were so weak that they could not take care of any food whatsoever. She was brought to our institution on a stretcher, emaciated to the proverbial "skin and bones". It required considerable careful management and treatment to revive the paralyzed organs. In such cases only very small quantities of easily digestible food, such as white of egg, milk, sumik or buttermilk, must be given. 'With this we give subacid or sweet fruit juices. Careful massage and neurotherapy are required to revive the benumbed organs. Magnetic treatment also is of great value in accomplishing this.

   4. Preparation for Fasting. Most writers on fasting maintain that one can stop eating and start on a prolonged fast at any time without preparation. This, however, is not always advisable. It may be all right in certain cases which are not affected by serious chronic diseases. But where the organs of elimination are in an atrophic condition, and where the system suffers from mineral starvation and is overloaded with pathogenic matter, it is much safer to prepare the system for the fast through a low protein diet rich in positive mineral elements, or, better still through a raw food diet and through thorough systematic natural treatment. I have fully explained this in Chap. XXVII Vol. I.

    Large amounts of negative pathogenic materials eliminated from the tissues and thrown into the circulation as a result of fasting must be neutralized by the positive alkaline mineral elements and eliminated from the system. These neutralizing and purifying elements can be introduced into the system only through a fruit and vegetable diet, low in starches and protein matter and rich in the positive alkaline mineral elements.

    When the natural diet and treatment have purified the system sufficiently for the manifestation of a healing crisis, then the physiological and psychological moment for fasting has arrived. Then the system is not in condition for the digestion and assimilation of food.' Therefore fasting becomes imperative. The whole body, including the linings of the stomach and bowels, is engaged in the work of elimination; this results in loss of appetite, revulsion to eating, coated tongue, foul breath, mental and nervous disturbances, all of which would only be aggravated by eating.

    In order to prevent reabsorption of morbid excretions, enemas (Sec. XVIII) and treatment for constipation (Sec. XXVI, No.1), are indicated before and during a fast.

   5. Healing Crises Suppressed by Eating. I have frequently observed that good healing crises such as diarrheas', acute catarrh or febrile conditions were suppressed by eating. This is easily explained by the fact that healing crises are processes of elimination, while eating promotes the processes of assimilation. This is especially true of diarrhea, which is one of the most efficient forms of acute elimination or healing crisis. Forced absorption of food will frequently check the morbid discharges. Furthermore, it is dangerous to give food in cases of well established violent diarrhea because it only irritates the raw surfaces in the intestines and keeps them in an inflamed condition. The food is not absorbed, but only serves to prolong the purging, dysentery or bloody flux unnecessarily, and thus may cause perforation of the bowels, hemorrhage and even death.

    Not a morsel of food should pass the lips until the intestines have stopped moving and have had time to heal and to rebuild the sloughed membranes. Therefore fasting should be continued all the way from one day to a week after the cessation of purging, according to the severity and duration of the acute attack. For example, after a diarrhea lasting one or two days, no food should be taken for twenty four hours. After a diarrhea lasting four or five days fasting should continue for three days or longer. After eight days or more of violent purging, no food should be taken for at least seven days.

    One of the most remarkable healing crises I ever observed came in the form of a diarrhea which lasted four weeks. During this time the patient did not receive any food whatsoever, nothing but water mixed with acid fruit juices. The discharges were of a black, watery nature. The patient assured me that during this entire four weeks' period he did not sleep one wink. Still he did not suffer particularly in the daytime. He had sufficient energy to accomplish his usual amount of work. While this may seem incredible, and while it is possible that the man may have slept more than he was aware, we have witnessed many similar instances of remarkable endurance during healing Crises. The man had suffered all his life from chronic enteritis (inflammation of the bowels). The eyes showed several itch spots in the intestinal area indicating that the underlying cause of the trouble was suppressed itch. He remembered that such eruptions had been suppressed several times in his youth. This vigorous healing crisis eliminated the disease taint from his system, and he has enjoyed good health ever since.

   6. Fruit Juices in Fasting. In the majority of cases we prefer to give to those who are undergoing prolonged fasts moderate quantities of diluted acid and subacid fruit juices. In this I take issue with some of the best authorities on fasting. I cannot understand why acid and subacid fruit juices should in any way interfere with the good effects of a fast. They do not contain food elements which promote the processes of digestion. On the other hand, they are rich in mineral salts which are necessary to neutralized the negative pathogenic substances with which the circulation is flooded during the fast.

    Besides having this neutralizing and eliminating effect, they are splendid tonics and antiseptics and are rich in vitamins, or, as I have called them, the life elements (microzyma) which sustain and stimulate the vital activities. Pasting, therefore, is much easier to endure and more pleasant when the diluted fruit juices are taken.

   Fruit juices should not be taken pure or in large quantities because in this form they may excite the digestive processes. There is no danger of this, however, when they are taken in dilute form; for instance, the juice of half an orange or half a lemon to a tumbler full of cold water. The water should be of natural temperature as it comes from the hydrant or well. Ice water should not be used under any circumstances.

   7. Hot Water Drinking. In some cases where the stomach and intestines are in a very foul and slimy condition hot water drinking proves very beneficial From one to two glasses of water, as hot as can be swallowed without injuring the tender membranes of the mouth and throat, may be taken three times a day. I do not advise the continuance of hot water drinking longer than necessary to wash out the morbid accumulations in the digestive tract. This must be supplemented also by copious enemas every second or third day.

    The diluted fruit juices may be taken between the hot water flushings. I would advise the hot water regimen only in extreme cases where something of a radical nature has to be done to clear the digestive tract of its fetid accumulations.

   8. Exercises while Fasting. The idea prevails that during a prolonged fast one should have complete rest. This, however, is a serious mistake. There is no reason why one should not take the usual amount of exercise or accomplish the accustomed daily tasks, provided, of course, these do not strain the physical and mental energies to the point of exhaustion. As a matter of fact many of our patients feel stronger and display more endurance after the first week of fasting than during the first few days. This is easily explained by the fact that during the fast the system eliminates large amounts of clogging pathogenic matter (colloids and leukocytes). This allows freer circulation of the blood and nerve currents and a more unobstructed inflow of vital energy.

   9. Symptoms and Acute Reactions Caused by Fasting

   a) Gas Formation. One of the common symptoms exhibited after starting on a fast is excessive gas production accompanied by rumbling in the bowels and colicky pains. This is caused by the stirring up and disintegration of deposits of old fecal matter in the intestines, and by the elimination of pathogenic materials from the system. Usually the bowels soon stop moving when no food is taken. In such cases warm water enemas should be taken to flush the colon. (Sec. XVIII, No.4)

    The accumulations in the lower intestine during a fast are of a particularly poisonous nature, and should be removed in order to prevent reabsorption.

   b) Temperature. In many instances the temperature rises during the first day of the fast and sometimes a slight febrile condition prevails during the entire period or subsides after a few weeks. In other cases we observe a lowering of the temperature below the normal. All these and similar reactions are not of a serious nature, and nothing should be done to interfere with them. They become dangerous only by suppression.

   c) Cotton Mouth. Another unpleasant but perfectly natural symptom is the gathering in the mouth of thick and sticky viscous accumulations of saliva. This condition has been called "cotton mouth" by the laity. In other cases the mouth feels dry and burning hot. These symptoms are of course signs of greatly increased combustion of morbid materials and their elimination through the membranes of the mouth and throat. Similar conditions exist in the stomach and intestines.

   d) Bilious Vomiting. In some cases where the liver has been enlarged and engorged with morbid accumulations, bile discharges in large quantities into the intestine and from there regurgitates into the stomach, causing bilious vomiting of an extremely offensive character. This symptom also is more terrifying than dangerous. It is a rather unpleasant but nevertheless effective way of house cleaning.

    People who have taken a great deal of calomel or mercury in other forms often develop violent vomiting while fasting. This may continue for a week or more. If they are robust enough to stand the ordeal it is well to let the crisis ran its course, but if they are in a very weakened condition it may be advisable to interrupt the fast for the time being. In such cases it is best to give white of egg to soothe the inflamed lining of the stomach.

    It must be remembered that in these mercurial patients the liver and stomach are particularly affected and that these organs try to throw off the mercurial poison through vomiting. I have frequently perceived distinctly the peculiar metallic and mercurial odor of the breath and of the bilious discharges.

   e) Offensive Perspiration. Another unpleasant symptom which we frequently observe during prolonged fasting is a very offensive odor of perspiration, which indicates vigorous elimination of pathogenic materials through the skin. Frequent quick cold rubs will promote this form of elimination and at the same time remove the offensive excretions and thus prevent their reabsorption In some eases it may become necessary to employ warm water and soap to remove the offensive elimination.

   10. Fear of Fasting Unfounded. The majority of those who undergo their first long fast are most pleasantly surprised to find that the terrors of starvation exist only in people's minds. It has happened that people stranded on barren islands or lost in desert places or entombed in mines, even where they had water have died apparently from starvation in the course of a week or two. It is now fully proved by the thousands who have fasted for long periods ranging from forty to ninety days that death in such eases is not due to actual starvation. The real cause must be fear and apprehension,—proving again that the things we fear we materialize.

    We cannot reiterate too often that fear is a perversion of the great law of faith. It is faith in evil. By submitting to fear we give evil power over us. The most necessary requirement, therefore, for a successful fast is the profound conviction that it cannot harm us in any way, but that it will prove of great benefit, physically, mentally and morally, because it not only purifies the body but strengthens will power and self control.

   11. Fasting Regimen. Before, during, and after a therapeutic fast, everything mull be done to keep elimination active, in order to prevent the reabsorption of the toxins that are being stirred up and liberated.

    Fasting involves rapid breaking down of the tissues. This creates great quantities of worn out cell materials and other morbid substances. Unless these poison producing accumulations are promptly eliminated, they will be reabsorbed into the system and cause autointoxication.

    To prevent this, bowels, kidneys and skin must be kept in active condition. The diet, for several days before and after a fast, should consist largely of uncooked fruits and vegetables, and the different methods of natural stimulative treatment should be systematically applied.

    During a fast, every bit of vitality must be economized; therefore the passive treatments are to be preferred to active exercise, although a certain amount of exercise (especially walking) daily in the open air, accompanied by deep breathing, should not be neglected.

   While fasting, intestinal evacuation usually ceases, especially where there is a natural tendency to sluggishness of the bowels. Enemas are therefore in order and during prolonged fasts may be taken every few days.

    By "prolonged" fasts I mean fasts that last from one to four weeks, "short" fasts being those one, two or three days' duration.

    Moderate drinking is beneficial during a fast as well as at other times; but excessive consumption of water, the so-called "flushing of the system", is very injurious. Under ordinary conditions from five to eight glasses of water a day are sufficient; the quantity consumed must be regulated by the' desire of the patient.

    Those who are fasting should mix their drinking water with the juice of acid fruits, preferably lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit. These juices act as eliminators and are fine natural antiseptics.

    Never use distilled water, whether during a fast or at any other time. Deprived of its own mineral constituents, distilled water "leeches" the mineral elements and organic salts out of the tissues of the body and thereby intensifies dysemic conditions.

    While fasting, the right mental attitude is all important. Unless you can do it with perfect equanimity, without fear or misgiving, do not fast at all. Destructive mental conditions may more than offset the beneficial effects of the fast.

    To recapitulate: never undertake a prolonged fast unless you have been properly prepared by natural diet and treatment, and never without the guidance of a competent adviser.

   a) The Regular Fast. Under this regimen no food is taken, but sufficient water to quench the thirst. In some oases it may be advantageous to increase the quantity of drinking water in order to dilute the pathogenic materials in the circulation and thus to facilitate their elimination through the skin and kidneys. Thirst, therefore is a safe indicator for the amounts of fluid needed.

   b) The Dry Fast. This means total abstinence from food and drink. Most people cannot endure this radical fast more than two or three days. It is a very powerful agent for promoting elimination. When no fluids are taken, the tissues are drawn upon for the elimination of waste materials. It has been found that such fluid starvation, which is directly contrary to the popular idea of flushing, is a powerful method for promoting elimination of morbid matter and disease taints, especially from the systems of individuals who are obese or whose tissues are "water logged".

   c) The Seven day Fast. If no adverse symptoms interfere, we frequently prescribe a short fast of seven days. This in the great majority of cases cannot produce any harmful or weakening results, and, understanding the laws of periodicity, we prefer a seven day period. If developments arc favorable to a prolongation of the fast we endeavor to extend it to the fourteenth, twenty first, twenty eighth or subsequent seven day period (Chapter XXIII, Vol.1, Periodicity.)

   d) The Long Fast. Long fasts may extend from one to seven or more weeks, according to individual indications and the vitality of the patient.

    As already explained, we never fix a definite period for the fast beforehand but extend it from time to time according to conditions. We add small quantities of acid fruit juices to the drinking water as long as it agrees with the patient. If a revulsion to fruit acids develops, the' water may be taken pure.

    After the bowels stop moving naturally enemas must be taken from time to time, say once or twice a week, in order to prevent reabsorption of toxic materials from the lower intestine. Indications for breaking the fast have been described under "danger signals".  

    12. Breaking the Fast. The great benefit derived from a fast may be all lost, and may be followed by harmful after effects if the fast is not broken in the right way. In fact, the best effects of a fast depend upon the dietetic management after it is broken. The longer the fast, the more care must be taken in breaking it.

    The greatest danger lies in eating too frequently and too much at a time. After a long fast the digestive organs are in a condition of complete inactivity, and to overload them suddenly with a large amount of food may provoke acute attacks of indigestion and produce many other kinds of serious disturbances. The organs must be trained into normal activity gradually, beginning with very small quantities of light food. I have frequently found it very advantageous to break the fast with a few tablespoonfuls of freshly toasted popcorn, unsalted and unbuttered. This is a splendid scour for the membranous linings of the stomach and bowels, and its tough particles stimulate the peristaltic action of the intestines.

    The popcorn may be followed within an hour by some mild fruit juice, preferably lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit juice. Not more than the juice of half a grapefruit or of one orange should be taken at a time. The quantity of undiluted fruit juice may be gradually increased on the second day to three or four half tumblerfuls. On the third day the meat of acid or subacid fruits may be taken instead of the juice alone.

    After the third day the fruit diet may be supplemented and combined with raw vegetable relishes and salads. If a person be sensitive to the mixing of acid fruits with vegetables, they should be taken at separate meals. To this raw food diet may be added small quantities of nuts or a ripe banana. The raw food diet may be continued from a few days to many weeks, according to the individual condition of the patient. Or it may be followed, whenever it seems advisable, by the regular vegetarian diet.

    On the other hand, it may be advisable to follow the fruit diet after breaking the fast, by a straight or modified milk diet. This is especially indicated where milk agrees with the patient and where it is desirable to give animal food in order to overcome a negative mental and physical condition and to build flesh more rapidly.

    No hard and fast rules can be established concerning any of these regimen or practices. One must be guided entirely by individual conditions and requirements. It is dangerous for people to experiment along these lines without the guidance of a competent and experienced Natural Therapeutics. If the fast is broken in the right way it will be found that lost weight is regained very quickly. In many instances people gain much more, after a prolonged fast, than they weighed before. Moreover, the new blood and tissues will be purer and healthier than the old, effete tissues which have been eliminated through strict diet, natural treatment and fasting.

   While in our treatment of acute diseases we use wet packs and cold ablutions to promote the radiation of heat and thereby to reduce the fever temperature, our aim in the treatment of chronic diseases is to arouse the system to acute eliminative effort. In other words, while in acute disease our hydropathic treatment is sedative, in chronic diseases it is stimulative.

   1. Stimulation of the Circulation. As before stated, cold water applied to the surface of the body arouses and stimulates the circulation all over the system. Blood counts before and after a cold water application show a very marked increase in the number of red corpuscles. This does not mean that the cold water has in a moment created new blood cells but it means that the blood has been stirred up and sent hurrying through the system, that the lazy cells which were lying inactive in the sluggish and stagnant blood stream and in the clogged and obstructed tissues are aroused to increased activity.

    Undoubtedly, the invigorating and stimulating influence of cold sprays, ablutions, sitzbaths, barefoot walking in the dewy grass or on wet stones and of all other cold water applications depends largely upon their electromagnetic effects upon the system. This has been explained in Chapter XXXIV, Vol.1.

   2. Elimination of impurities. As the cord water drives the blood with increased force through the system, it flushes the capillaries in the tissues and cleanses them from the accumulation of pathogen which is one of the primary causes of acute and chronic diseases.

    As the blood rushes back to the surface it suffuses the skin, opens and relaxes the pores and the minute blood vessels or capillaries, and thus unloads its impurities through the cuticle.

   3. Why We Favor Cold Water. In the treatment of chronic diseases some advocates of natural methods of healing still favor warm or hot applications in the form of hot water baths, various kinds of steam or sweat baths, electric light baths, hot compresses, fomentations, etc.

    However, the great majority of Nature Cure practitioners in Europe have abandoned hot applications of any kind almost entirely because of their weakening and enervating after effects and because in many instances they have not only failed to produce the expected results but have aggravated the disease conditions.

    We can explain the different effects of hot and cold water as well as of all other therapeutic agents upon the system by the law of action and reaction.

    Applied to physics this law reads: "Action and reaction are equal but opposite." I have adapted the law of action and reaction to therapeutics in a somewhat circumscribed way as follows: Every therapeutic agent affecting the human organism has a first, temporary, and a second, permanent effect. The second, lasting effect is contrary to the first, transient effect.

    The first, temporary effect of warmth above the body temperature, whether it be applied in the form of hot air, water, steam or light, is to draw the blood into the surface. Immediately after such an application the skin will be red and hot.

   The second and lasting effect, however (in accordance with the law of action and reaction), is that the blood recedes into the interior of the body and leaves the skin in a bloodless and enervated condition, subject to chills and predisposed to "catching cold".

    On the other hand, the first, transient effect of cold water applications upon the body as a whole, or upon any particular part is to chill the surface and send the blood scurrying inward, leaving the skin in a chilled, bloodless condition. This lack of blood and sensation of cold are at once telegraphed over the afferent nerves to headquarters in the brain and from there the command goes forth to the nerve centers regulating the circulation, "Send blood into the surface!"

    As a result, the circulation is stirred up and accelerated throughout the system and the blood rushes with force into the depleted skin, flushing the surface of the body with warm, red blood and restoring to it the rosy color of health. This is the second effect. In other words, the well applied cold water treatment is followed by a good reaction, and this is accompanied by many permanent beneficial results.

    The drawing and eliminating first effect of hot applications, of sweat baths,—etc., is at best only temporary, lasting but a few minutes, and is always followed by a weakening reaction, while the drawing and eliminating action of the cold water applications, being the second, lasting effect, exerts an enduring, invigorating and tonic influence upon the skin which enables it to throw off morbid matter not merely for ten or fifteen minutes, as in the sweat bath under the influence of excessive heat but continually by day and night.

   4. The Danger of Prolonged or Excessively Cold Applications. As I have pointed out, only water at ordinary temperature as it comes from well or hydrant should be used in hydropathic applications. It is positively dangerous to apply ice bags to an inflamed organ or to use icy water for packs and ablutions in febrile conditions.

    Likewise, icy or icy water should not be used in the hydropathic treatment of chronic diseases. Excessive cold is as suppressive in its effects upon the organism as are poisonous antiseptics or anti-fever medicines.

    The baths, sprays, douches, etc., should not be kept up too long. The duration of the cold water applications must be regulated by the individual condition of the patient and by his powers of reaction. It should be borne in mind that it is the short, quick application that produces the stimulating, electromagnetic effects upon the system.

    In Sections XIII and XV are described some of the baths and other cold water applications that are especially adapted to the treatment of chronic diseases.

   1. Outdoor Bathing and Swimming. This is very invigorating and beneficial to those who are strong enough to secure reaction. The bathing or swimming should never be extended too long. Twenty minutes is sufficient even for a young and vigorous person. There must be no feeling of chilliness or exhaustion afterward. This would be a sign of overdoing. If the reaction is good there should follow a feeling of comfort and warmth, especially of the feet and hands. There will be a good appetite and the sleep will be sound and refreshing.

    Ocean bathing is more tonic than inland water bathing because the salts in the seawater have a positive electromagnetic effect upon the body.

   2. Foot Bath. Stand in cold water reaching up to the ankles for one to two minutes, according to the summer or winter temperature of the water. Dry the feet with a coarse towel and rub them vigorously with the hands, or walk about briskly for a few minutes. Repeat if necessary.

   3. Leg Bath. (a) Stand in water up to the calves, from one to two minutes, then proceed as above.

    b) Stand in water up to the knees, from one to two minutes, then rub vigorously or walk as directed.

   4. Barefoot Walking. Walk barefoot in wet grass or on wet stone pavements several times a day, from ten to twenty minutes at a time, or less in case of weakness. The early morning dew upon the grass is especially beneficial; later in the day wet the grass or pavement with a hose.

   After barefoot walking, dry and rub the feet thoroughly; and take a short, brisk walk in shoes and stockings.

   5. Indoor Water Treading. Stand in a bathtub or large foot-tub containing about two inches of cold water, step and splash vigorously for several minutes, then dry and rub the feet, and increase the circulation by walking around the room a few times.

   6. Foot Spray. Turn the full force of water from a hydrant or hose first on one foot, then on the other. Let the stream play alternately on the upper part of the feet and on the soles. The coldness and force of the water will draw the blood to the feet.

    These applications are excellent as a means of stimulating and equalizing the circulation, and a "sure cure', for cold and clammy feet, as well as for excessive perspiration of the feet.

    In this connection, we warn our readers most strongly against the use of drying powders or antiseptic washes to suppress foot-sweat. Serious nervous disorders have been traced to this practice.

   7. Partial Ablutions. Partial ablutions with cold water are very useful in many instances, especially in local inflammation or where local congestion is to be relieved. The "kalte Guss" forms an important feature of the Kniepp system of water cure.

    Sprays or showers may be administered to the head, arms, chest,—back, thighs, and knees or wherever indicated, with a dipper, a sprinkler or a hose attached to the faucet or hydrant. The water should be of natural temperature and the "Guss" of short duration.

   8. Limb Bath. Take up cold water in the hollow of the hands from a running faucet or a bucket filled with water, rub arms and legs briskly for a few minutes.

   9. Upper Body Bath. Stand in an empty tub, take water in the hollow of the hands from a running faucet or a bucket filled with cold water, and rub briskly the upper half of the body, from neck to hips, for two or three minutes. Use a towel or brush for those parts of the body that cannot be reached with the hands.

   10. Lower Body Baths. Proceed as in (9), rubbing the lower part of the body from the waist downwards.

   11. Hip Bath. Sit in a large basin or in the bathtub in enough water to cover the hips completely, the legs resting on the floor or against the side of the tub. While taking the hip bath, knead and rub the abdomen.

    Dry with a coarse towel, then rub and pat the skin with the hands for a few minutes.

   12. The Morning Cold Rub. The essentials for a cold rub, and in fact for every cold water treatment are warmth of the body before the application, coolness of the water (natural temperature), rapidity of action, and friction or exercise to stimulate the circulation. No cold water treatment should be taken when the body is in a chilled condition.

    a) Directly from the warmth of the bed, or after sunbath and exercise have produced a pleasant glow, go to the bathroom, sit in the empty tub with the stopper in place, turn on the cold water, and as it flows into the tub, catch it in the hollow of the hands and wash first the limbs, then the abdomen, then chest and back. Throw the water all over the body and rub the skin with the hands like you wash your face.

    Do this quickly but thoroughly. The entire procedure need not take up more than a few minutes. By the time the bath is finished, there may be from two to four inches of water in the tub. Use a towel or brush for the back if you cannot reach it otherwise.

    As long as there is a good reaction, the cold rub may be taken in an unheated bathroom even in cold weather.

   After the bath, dry the body quickly with a coarse towel and finish by rubbing with the hands until the skin is dry and smooth and you are aglow with the exercise, or expose the wet body to the fresh air before an open window and rub with the hands until dry and warm.

    A bath taken in this manner combines the beneficial effects of cold water, air, exercise, and the magnetic friction of the hands on the body (life on life). No lifeless instrument or mechanical appliance can equal the dexterity, warmth and magnetism of the human hand.

    The bath must be so conducted that it is followed by a feeling of warmth and comfort. Some persons will be benefited by additional exercises or, better still, a brisk walk in the open air, while others will get better results by returning to the warmth of the bed.

    There is no better means for stimulating the general circulation and for increasing the eliminative activities of the system than this cold morning rub at the beginning of the day after the night's rest. If kept up regularly, its good effects will soon become apparent.

    This method of taking a morning bath is to be preferred to the plunge into a tub! Filled with cold water. While persons with very strong constitutions may experience no ill effects, to those who are weak and do not react readily, the "cold plunge" might prove a severe shock and strain upon the system.

   b) When a bathtub is not available, take the morning cold rub in the following manner:

    Stand in an empty washtub. In front of you, in the tub, place a basin or bucket filled with cold water. Wet the hands or a towel and wash the body, part by part, from the feet upward, then dry and rub with the hands as before directed.

   13. The Evening sitzbaths. The sitzbath is best taken in the regular tub made for the purpose, but an ordinary bathtub or a washtub or pan may be used with equally good effect.

    Pour into the vessel a few inches of water at natural temperature as it comes from the hydrant, and sit in the water until a good reaction takes place that is, until the first sensation of cold is followed by a feeling of warmth. This may take from a few seconds to a few minutes, according to the temperature of the water and the individual powers of reaction.

    Dry with a coarse towel, rub and pat the skin with the hands, then, in order to establish good reaction, practice deep breathing for a few minutes, alternating with the internal massage exercise described on page 187.

    The morning cold rub is stimulating in its effects; the evening sitzbath is quieting and relaxing. The latter is therefore especially beneficial if taken just before going to bed. The cold water draws the blood from brain and spinal cord and thereby insures better rest and sleep. It cools and relaxes the abdominal organs, sphincters and orifices, stimulates gently and naturally the action of the bowels and of the urinary tract, and is equally effective in chronic constipation and in affections of the kidneys or bladder.

   14. The Head Bath. Loss or discoloration of the hair is generally due to the lack of hair building elements in the blood, or to sluggish circulation in the scalp and a diseased condition of the hair follicles. Nothing more effectually stimulates the flow of blood to brain and scalp or promotes the elimination of waste matter arid poisons from these parts than the head bath, together with scalp massage.

    Under no circumstances use hair tonics, dandruff or eczema cures or hair dyes. All such preparations contain poisons in the form of strong antiseptics and germicides. Dandruff is a form of elimination and should not be suppressed. When the scalp is in good condition, it disappears of its own accord.

    The diagnosis from the iris of the eye reveals the fact that glycerin, quinine, resorcin and other poisonous anti-septics and stimulants absorbed from dandruff cures and, hair tonics and deposited in the brain are, in many cases, the real cause of chronic headaches, neuralgia, dizziness, roaring in the ears, loss of hearing and sight mental depression, irritability and even insanity.

    Cold water is an absolutely safe and at the same time a most effective means to promote the growth of hair, as many of our patients can testify.

    If the hair is short, the head should be washed thoroughly with cold water each time the face is washed While doing this the scalp should be vigorously pinched, kneaded and massaged with the finger tips. When feasible, turn the stream from a hydrant or hose upon the head. This will add the good effect of friction to the coldness of the water.

    Where the hair is too long for such frequent washing, daily cold water treatment may be applied by dipping the finger tips in cold water and rubbing it into the scalp; progressively covering the whole surface and vigorously massaging as above. Frequent washing of the hair in cold water, without soap, and drying in the air will obviate the necessity of washing often with soap. When it becomes necessary to use soap for cleansing purposes (and it should be used no oftener than absolutely necessary), use only pure castile soap and tepid, never hot water, rinsing thoroughly in warm and then cold water. If plenty of cold water is used in finishing, the scalp thoroughly rubbed and the hair dried in the open air, there will be no danger of "catching cold" if one is living according to the natural regimen. Avoid the use of commercial shampoos.

   Have your hair cut only during the first quarter of the moon. The ladies may clip off the ends of their hair during that period. Skeptics may smile at this as "another evidence of ignorance and superstition". However, "fools deride, philosophers investigate".

   1. Tepid Baths. Tepid baths vary in heat from 70 to 90 degrees. Many find them refreshing, but those who have become used to the effect of cold bathing find them rather enervating and weakening.

   2. Tepid Sitzbath. The tepid sitzbath is taken by sitting in either an ordinary bathtub or a special sitz-tub, in four to six inches of water, the temperature of it ranging from 60 to 70 degrees. Such a lukewarm sitzbath is often indicated where there is retention of urine from a heated or inflamed condition of the urethra and bladder. It soothes and relaxes these structures and allows the urine to flow.

    If the temperature of the body is much above the normal the sitzbath should be taken in water of natural temperature, as it comes from the hydrant or well. In all cases of fevers, where the patient is able to arise from bed and take' the cold sitzbath, it will prove of great benefit. While in the bath the patient should lave the abdominal parts with the cold water.

   3. Warm and hot Baths. It is only on rare occasions that we recommend bathing at high temperature. Continually indulged in, it weakens the circulation, enervates the superficial nervous system and leads to atrophy of the cuticle. The effect of warm and hot bathing on the skin shows in the eyes through the heavy dark scurf rim in the outer border of the iris.

   4. Turkish Russian and Electric Light Baths. For reasons before mentioned the natural healer never uses these or other forms of sweating processes unless it is as a temporary application for the breaking of a cold or incipient fever as described under Sweating in Bed.

    While it is true that vigorous perspiration draws the blood to the surface and promotes the elimination of waste matter, such perspiration should be induced in a natural way, not through overheating the body artificially. The best perspiration is that induced through walking or other exercise in warm weather, or through wet packs in bed, which we shall describe hereafter.

    Sweating, if it can be produced without overheating the body unduly, is of especial value in dropsical conditions and in cases of incipient or advanced diabetes and Bright's disease. It is also very beneficial in all forms of chronic rheumatism.

   5. Sweating in Bed (Figs. la, b, c, d). This is best accomplished by means of the cold whole body pack, if necessary, assisted by hot water bottles or hot drinks. The procedure is as follows:

    Spread on a bed or couch two or three blankets, according to the season of the year, the warmth of the room and the heat of the patient's body. Over the blankets spread a bed sheet which has been wrung out in warm water if the temperature of the body is subnormal, in cold if the body is at fever heat; then wrap the wet sheet quickly around the body of the patient, tucking it in between the legs and between the body and the arms.

    Then pick up the top blanket and tuck it in around the body, folding the ends in over the feet and around the neck; then pick up the second and third blankets and do likewise. When finished, the patient and the pack look very much like an Egyptian mummy. The patient should react and begin to perspire, or at least to feel comfortably warm, within five or ten minutes. If he remains cold too long, put along each side of the body two or three hot water bottles or bricks heated in an oven and wrapped in flannels; then cover the whole over with a few more blankets. The patient should be allowed to remain in the whole body pack and perspire as long as he can stand it. This may be from ten to thirty minutes or more, but should not be extended so long as to exhaust the patient unduly.

    The removal of the pack must be followed immediately by a quick cold rub, standing up in the bathtub or in a washtub; or if the patient be too weak for this, by a cold friction rub in bed. The cold rub is frequently followed by a fine after-sweat which may continue from ten to thirty minutes, according to the vitality of the patient after this another cold bath or cold rub should be given. The patient is then allowed to rest. One or two such bed sweat baths or whole body packs are usually sufficient to break up a bad cold or incipient febrile disease. H it should not succeed in breaking up the congestion and aborting the fever, it will surely cause it to run a much easier course. This is accomplished in a perfectly natural manner through increased heat radiation and forced elimination of morbid matter through the skin. Perspiration will be greatly facilitated by drinking either cool or warm water, or hot lemonade. In extreme cases where the patient does not react to a whole body pack and is in danger of chilling, perspiration can be induced by giving hot lemonade or a small cup of hot coffee with lemon juice.

    If the patient is too weak to endure the rather heroic but very effective whole body pack treatment, partial packs such as trunk, throat and leg packs may be applied, reinforced by hot water bottles or hot bricks. These are more easily applied and endured. (For description of the partial packs, see Sec. XV, Nos. 9 to 19.)

    In an extensive practice, extending over a period of eighteen years, I have always found the sweating in bed preferable to the use of artificial apparatus, which is always more or less dangerous and more exhausting and injurious to the skin than the simple hot or cold wet packs, which have a powerful "drawing" effect upon the circulation and at the same time relax the pores of the skin.

    Sweating for the cure of disease is very much in favor among the Indians. While living in the Rocky Mountains I frequently had occasion to observe the Turkish bath contrivance of the Indians. The sweating treatment is given (no matter what the disease may be) by placing the patient under a wickerwork frame covered almost airtight with skins. Before the patient enters the low, box-like hut, several pails or tin pans have been set into holes in the ground. These are filled with boiling water and from time to time hot stones from a nearby fire are dropped into the hot water to keep up the production of steam. When the patient has perspired to the limit of his endurance he is taken out and plunged into a nearby creek or lake, or in the winter time h& is rubbed down quickly with snow.

    I relate this not because I approve of the steam bath but to draw attention to the fact that the natural instinct and good sense of the Indian has hit upon elimination as a therapeutic measure.

   6. Sweating by Exercise. The most beneficial perspiration is that induced by brisk walking or other exercise. This should be followed by a quick cold bath, spray or rub. The warmer the body, within natural limits, the quicker the reaction from the cold water application.

   7. Hot Compresses or Fomentations. To prepare a fomentation take a piece of flannel and fold it from six to ten times and form it into a roll. Dip this into water as hot as the patient can stand it. The temperature of the water should range from blood heat to about 110 degrees, according to the endurance of the patient. Wring out the roll, unroll it quickly and lay it on the part which is to be treated. This may be the chest or abdomen, or the whole front or back, or it may be an inflamed arm, leg or joint. The hot compress should be covered and held in place by a cloth around the body or the limb, pinned down with safety pins.

    We use hot fomentations or compresses only when the temperature is subnormal and when the patient 's vitality is so low that he cannot react to a cold pack or cold ablution It is a good sign if the body temperature rises as a result of the hot pack or compress. It means that the system, as a result of the tonic application, is arousing itself to acute febrile reaction, which we always welcome as Nature's purifying, healing effort.

    These procedures should be supplemented if possible by expert manipulative treatment.

   1. Wet Bandages. Old muslin, linen sheeting, or soft, well worn toweling are the best materials for bandages and packs. Bandages are used mostly for extracting internal heat, for relieving internal congestion, and for promoting elimination of morbid matter through the skin. Cold water is best suited for these purposes, but where the patient is very sensitive to cold, or the temperature subnormal, the chill may be taken off or tepid water may be used. The bandages are soaked in the water, then lightly wrung out and applied to the body where desired.

   2. Wet Packs. The wet pack consists of the wet bandage before described plus a covering of dry flannel or woolen material, or of heavy toweling. The dry covering must overlap the upper and lower borders of the wet bandage about one half an inch. The dry covering serves to bring about a warm reaction and preserves the moisture in the bandage, and therefore the drawing effect of the pack is more powerful than that of the plain bandage.

    The dry flannel, woolen or cotton covering may consist of from one to three or even four layers wrapped around the wet bandage. The outer end of the dry covering is pinned down and held in place by safety pins. The number of wet and dry wrappings depends upon the heat of the body and the vitality and power of reaction of the patient. The higher the fever heat and the more vigorous the body, as in childhood and youth, the more wet wrappings and the less dry covering is required. The lower the fever and the lower the vitality and power of reaction of the patient, the less wet wrappings and the more dry, warm covering is required. In chronic cases, with low or subnormal temperature where packs are indicated to relieve inner congestion and pain, to induce sleep or to promote elimination, one wrapping of wet material is fully sufficient, and this must be covered with two or three wrappings of dry, warm material, in order to bring about the necessary reaction.

   3. Vinegar Bandages and Compresses. Some hydrotherapists recommend an addition of vinegar or Epsom salts (MgSO4) to the water from which the bandages or compresses are wrung out, about one half vinegar and one half water, or one tablespoon of Epsom salt to one quart of water (See article on Epsom 'salt treatment, page 159.)

   4. Potato Compresses. A compress made of grated raw potato, applied between pieces of thin linen or cotton cloth, is especially recommended in all forms of inflammation of the eye. It must be renewed before it becomes hot and dry.

   5. How Often Should the Wet Packs Be Renewed? This depends upon the severity of the fever; height of temperature, and upon the vitality of the patient. In an ordinary cold it may be sufficient to apply a throat and short body pack in the evening and to leave it on all night to be followed in the morning by a good cold rub and cold water sniffing.

    The more pronounced the fever and the higher the temperature, the oftener the wet bandages must be renewed. In fevers such as diphtheria, smallpox, typhoid, cerebrospinal meningitis, etc., the packs must be taken off and replaced by fresh ones as soon as they are hot and dry. In such cases it is advisable to have on hand several sets of bandages. Those which come from the body must be thoroughly washed, rinsed in cold water and hung up to dry in the fresh air and sunshine. In serious and prolonged cases of inflammatory feverish diseases it is advisable to alternate between throat, trunk and leg packs. For instance, at one time put on throat and trunk pack, then apply leg packs only, then again throat and so on. This tends to equalize the circulation.

   6. Ablution After Pack. Every time a bandage or pack has served its purpose and is taken from the body, the parts covered by the bandages or packs must be rubbed with a rough towel dipped in cold water. This serves several important purposes: first, to cleanse the skin of morbid matter and poisons which the bandage or pack has drawn to the surface; second, to secure a better reaction; third, to promote heat radiation; fourth, to increase the electromagnetic energies of the body.

   7. Whole Body Pack. (Figs. 1a, b, c, d). Spread on a bed or couch two or three blankets, according to the season of the year, the warmth of the room and the heat of the patients body. Over the blankets spread a bed sheet which has been wrung out in cold water; over this spread the muslin strip of a trunk pack wrung out in cold water. Wrap this strip about the trunk; then wrap the wet sheet quickly around the body of the patient, tucking it in between the legs and also between the body and the arms. Then pick up the top blanket and tuck it in around the body, folding the ends in over the feet and around the neck; then pick up the second and third blankets and do likewise, pinning in place with safety pins. When finished, the patient and the pack look very much like an Egyptian mummy.

   The patient should react and begin to perspire, or at least to feel comfortably warm, within five or ten minutes. If he remains cold too long, put along each side of the body two or three hot water bottles, or bricks heated in an oven and wrapped in flannel, then cover the whole over with a few more blankets. The patient should be allowed to remain in the whole body pack and perspire as long as he can stand it. This may be from ten to thirty minutes or more, but s