In these circumstances elimination can take place only abnormally, with in all ca ses but 
partial removal of body waste. In  treating disease by natural methods the character of the toxin is not considered excepting in so 
far as it is an indication of the severity of illness, and the thought paramount concerns the condition of the organs involve d, with 
their ability to function , rather than with the nature of the circulating poison. The toxication or poisoning that results from absorption of certain products of metabolism has been said sometimes to cause 
delirium in the subject. This phenomenon, because it has infrequently bee n observed while a fast was in progress, has given rise to 
the contention that protracted abstinence from food occasions insanity. Nothing can be further from truth, for, when toxic 
elimination has been successfully accomplished, when the system is fully a nd physiologically purified, mentality is at maximum; 
and, on the other hand, cases displaying mental aberration to toxemia caused by overfeeding are speedily brought to sanity wh en 
food is denied. In fact, extreme auto -intoxication occurs more frequently when the subject is feeding than when he is fasting, and 
an overfed system is productive of poisons the effects of which upon mentality are more serious and more lasting than are tho se of 
stimulants or narcotics. Wounds and broken bones are healed and un ited by natural processes, and it is only through the operation of the latter that cures 
may be achieved. The fast and its accessories are not in themselves "processes", as the term is here used. Their office is th at of the 
removal of obstacles that lie in  the paths of action invariably pursued by nature in effecting her purpose of systemic cleansing, of 
casting out of the body the poisons that are the source of its disease. As a result of restoration of function that follows a  successful 
fast instances do occur where organic structural break -down is arrested and the organ is again placed in functioning condition, but 
these instances are exceptional. However, undertaking a fast in the hope that it in itself will succeed in overcoming to the point of 
recovery  serious structural organic defects, wounds, and broken bones, is to hope for an absurdity. In these circumstances the 
benefits that accrue from the application of the method are proportioned to the degree of the power of the organ or of the ti ssue 
involve d to recover itself. Death during a fast cannot occur unless there is organic disease, and not then unless the organ or organs affected are in suc h 
degenerated state as not to permit of repair; and it is conclusively demonstrated that in a scientifically  directed fast, although death 
in the conditions cited cannot be averted, yet because of organic labor lessened, life is prolonged for days or weeks, and di stress 
Page 33 of  72 and pain, if present, are much alleviated. The differentiation between starvation and fasti ng is made herein upon the basis that starvation occurs in consequence of food 
being denied to a system that is in need of sustenance, and that fasting consists in intentional abstinence from food by a sy stem in 
disease, a system which in consequence of it s physical unbalance is not only without desire for nutriment, but which in reality is in 
no need of it until its organism is purified and again in condition to perform its functions normally. The distinction stated  may be 
admitted, yet the fact is not alt ered that the two processes are in essence largely identical. But it has been observed that, deposited 
within the body, lies a reserve store of aliment, and it is also to be observed that this reserve is not in the main utilized  for tissue 
rebuilding, but is in most part intended at all times for the support and maintenance of the nervous system; and it is only when this 
supply of nerve sustenance is exhausted or prevented from serving its purpose that starvation occurs. Because of the possibil ity of 
these happenings in disease, the body may starve though it is well fed, for often in instances of overfeeding there is mal -
assimilation, often an essential organ is rendered functionally incapable through congestion, in consequence of which the ner vous 
system is  hindered from consuming its necessary nourishment since the channels of supply are obstructed. Hence it should be 
apparent that in functional disease during a fast starvation can begin only when fasting ends --at the disappearance of disease, at the 
return  of hunger. Whether we regard the vital principle, the animating force of the animal body, as an entity or, as modern science would have it, as 
the result of chemical transformations, it must be agreed that, during a fast whatever tissue construction occ urs happens in 
consequence of nutriment supplied from the reserve noted above, and this Dr. E. H. Dewey termed "Nature's bill of fare for th e 
sick." Deprived of food, the subject then must subsist upon this menu, details of which have already been given in  the table quoted 
from Yeo's Physiology, a table which shows the estimated losses of the several tissues of the body in cases of starvation. During 
periods of abstinence from food the organism then subsists upon itself, and loss of body weight must occur. Directly this loss is 
due to the elimination, first, of the waste that caused disease, and, next and continuously with the other, of the refuse pro duced by 
catabolism or cell destruction. The dominant process in action at this time is that of expulsion of diseaseproducing matter, and it is 
obvious that the latter is at no point available for the repair of tissue, and that, held within the system, it acts not only  obstructively 
in the avenues of vitality, but that it also toxically vitiates function. This is  true of all refuse retained in the organism at any time, 
for this material, because of delay in expulsion, is rendered harmful through putrefactive changes. The points of difficulty related heretofore are in a sense technical in character, but there are  objections which embody personal 
opinion and prejudice that at times develop into serious obstacles. While fasting for the relief of disease has been known an d 
practiced individually in all countries of the world from prehistoric times, it was never advan ced in any land to the point where it 
could be regarded as a distinct system of therapeutics until the decade beginning about fifty years ago. Its rise from sporad ic 
application to the dignity of a school occurred about that time in the United States, and from then on its exponents and 
practitioners, persisting in the face of scientific opposition, gradually accomplished their purpose by proving their content ions, and 
at length have the satisfaction of seeing their conclusions accepted and adopted without a pology or acknowledgment by what may 
be termed intellectuaI authority. There is no form of ignorance that is so difficult to overcome and to instruct as is of the "scientific" mind. And, when the latter, as 
it sometimes does, obtains a conception of its error, it is extremely loth to admit, first, that it has not always been in possession of 
the truth, and, second, that it should render due credit to the mind responsible for its change of concept or belief. And, if  the 
position of the individual be such t hat he may with authority employ the power of mere assertion, it is usually much the easier way 
to announce as one's own discovery that which formerly one has denied and condemned, perhaps through prejudice, but more 
often through sheer ignorance. In thi s connection quotations are made from several articles and books recently issued by medical authors. These screeds are given 
with small comment, but they serve to illustrate the contemptuous attitude assumed by those of whom Louis Kuhne years ago sai d 
this: "Everywhere the new science of healing finds sympathetic acceptance, except among a few sceptics and those who believe 
that they know everything better than anyone else, and who generally consider it superfluous to make practical trial of any m ethod 
strange to the tenets of their own." First let us hear Dr. W. A. Evans, who writes How to Keep Well, a syndicated letter at present published daily in various 
newspapers throughout the country. Dr. Evans has this to say about fasting:  
"On the shelves of the  Crerar Library (Chicago), or any other library of similar equipment, are many books on fasting. I 
know none that is even half way scientific, nor a quarter way trustworthy. One reason for this is that fasting is the sport o f 
amateurs, as one writer calls it. He might have added that it is the fad of faddists and the field of the faker. To further 
complicate matters, it is all mixed up with religion. Every religion has always had religious feasts, which are gorges, and 
its fasts. "Prof. Morgulis of the Un iversity of Nebraska has just put out a truly scientific book on the subject. The only trouble 
about this book is that it is so accurate, scientific, and technical that the man who needs it most cannot understand it. Page 34 of  72  
"Fasting is a remedial agent of enorm ous power --power for good and power for harm. Nothing the doctor carries in his 
saddle bags approximates fasting in its therapeutic possibilities. In fact, a doctor attends a patient through a long illness , 
giving him four kinds of medicine four times ever y day, it is probable that the under -nutrition through which the patient 
has passed by reason of his loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, or other quality of his disease, or the dieting to which h e 
was subjected, influenced both the patient and his disea se far more than did the medicine which was given. Comes now Dr. Frederick M. Allen, A. B., M. D., of the Rockefeller Institute Hospital, who about the year, 1915, advanced his  
"discovery" of the "starvation treatment" of diabetes. There is no need to dev ote more time to him than to say that as far back as 
1878 Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey successfully employed the fast in treating diabetes mellitus. A quotation now follows from Fasting and Undernutrition, the book of Professor Morgulis of the University of N ebraska College 
of Medicine. This is the author mentioned by Dr. Evans, who attributes to the Professor the only scientific work written upon  the 
fast--so scientific in fact that the man who needs it most cannot understand it. In his book Professor Morguli s has devoted himself 
solely to the physiological aspect of abstinence from food with its effects upon animals in health, neglecting its therapeuti cal 
possibilities, excepting to say in his preface: --"In the hands of the skilful practitioner of medicine total abstinence from food may 
prove a wonderfully effective weapon in restoring health. The therapeutic value of inanition, however, should be studied 
experimentally and not be left to the judgment of amateur enthusiasts. The practical value of inanition wi ll never be fully utilized 
until both laymen and the medical profession lose their instinctive fear of fasting". (My italics.) Professor Morgulis, scien tific in 
mind and expression though he may be, makes in the statement given the egregious error of confu sing inanition, starvation, with 
fasting, forgetting or perhaps not knowing that there is no malnutrition comparable to the starvation that accompanies overea ting. Quotations from the writings of these men of science are made thus at length for several r easons. It is desired that the reader may 
be impressed with the truth that fasting for therapeutic purposes --fasting for the prevention and relief of disease --has been known 
and practiced for all of the historic ages of man. It is also to be emphasized tha t all animate nature, save man, instinctively refuses 
food when physical balance is disturbed. And, whether the discussion conducted herein be from the standpoint of science 
"scientific" or not, it will stand the sole test that makes for truth in that the results connoted are based upon long, faithful, and 
accurate observation and experiment of minds as capable of receiving and recording the phenomena connected with abstinence 
from food in illness or in health as are those of the scientists quoted. And it s hould possess the further distinction of being easily 
understandable by him who needs it most. The premises of the argument underlying the application of a fast for therapeutic will bear repetition. Disease, in whatever form 
evidenced, whatever the sympt om displayed, has its origin at the threshold of digestion. In disease itself lies relief. Disease and 
cure, viewed from the standpoint of nature, are a unity. The former may not be suppressed lest the latter fail of attainment. When 
an organism, constitut ed as is the body of man, becomes the victim of its own violation of hygienic law, when the avenues through 
which vital force, the source of life, is transmitted, are permitted to become obstructed, unless these channels are cleansed , are 
opened for the pa ssage of energy, life ceases and death occurs. In order that the passages through which the life principle reaches 
the separate parts of the human body may be free and unobstructed, a system of elimination exists. Building of tissue --
assimilation --takes pl ace as the result of food ingested and digested, but health depends upon a balance between nutrition and 
elimination. And there is no eliminative agency known to science comparable with a properly administered fast. Dr. Evans has said that the book of Pr ofessor Morgulis is a treatise upon the fast that is truly scientific. And there is no doubt that 
Fasting and, Undernutrition is a thesis most carefully prepared and couched in purely scientific terms. But it deals entirely with 
inanition in healthy animals and with a few short fasts undertaken by healthy human professionals. Fasting in health and fast ing 
when disease is in evide nce are two distinct processes, and the writer believes that even science must concede differing chemical 
transformations and reactions in sickness and in health. And further, because the results of many years of observation, exper iment, 
and induction are placed before students in terms that are easily understandable, it must not be concluded that the truths discovered 
and related are non -scientific and are to be discarded as fallacies. Yet the professed scientist is most free in offering the sort of 
critic ism mentioned and inferred, and this has its weight with those who are subservient to intellectual authority, with those who 
are either unwilling or incapable of thinking for themselves. It is thus seen that obstacles are put in the way of the practice o f fasting as a therapeutic measure by the scientist and by the 
ignorant layman, but this has a direct advantage in promoting investigation, for criticism, especially from scientific source s, 
necessarily induces in an intelligent and conscientious observer intense concentration upon all phases of the subject. No point that 
may conduce to favorable issue is overlooked; no natural law or accessory is permitted to remain without investigation. Considerations merely selfish in character might here prove motives for a certain sort of endeavor --desire for gain, the hope of 
triumphing over other schools. But a broader deeper feeling actuates the true student of nature In him the search for perfect  
understanding of cause and effect, the giving of a truth to the world  the relief of physical suffering, are the stimuli that impel him 
to surmount the obstacles he meets and that bring success to his labors. The discovery of the general therapeutic worth of the fast was soon followed by a knowledge of its value as a diagn ostic agent. Page 35 of  72 Properly directed, the method never fails to uncover every weak point in an ailing body, to reveal the exact location of orga nic 
distress or defect, the focal point of disease. Continued experiment and observation established the desirability of correct approach 
to complete abstinence from food through gradual diminution of intake, thus insuring systemic accommodation to the 
physiological changes involved, while permitting elimination naturally to dominate. Here also was demonstrated the import ance of 
enemata and cleansing baths for the purpose of facilitating the disposal of the harmful products of catabolism. During a fast, as elimination of body waste progresses, the observer is permitted, to a degree approaching accuracy, to deter mine 
the condition of function of each vital organ, and, if structural defect is present, it is certain to be detected. For cessation of food 
intake inhibits organic labor with the exception of that compelled by systemic utilization of the reserve contained in tiss ue. At this 
time organs, the functioning ability of which is equal to normal demand, completely relax with no symptoms of distress and wi th 
no signs of defect in structure; while organs diseased, either functionally or structurally, maintain a state of con gestion combined 
with distress or pain, the latter due to inflammatory conditions or to lesions already formed. In addition, the internal chem istry of 
the organism is more or less fully and accurately revealed, since discharges from the body are most easil y analyzed, unmixed as 
they are with the products of recently ingested food. In the event that grave organic defect exists in a patient, signs more or less determinant are displayed both during the time  of 
preparation and in the early stages of a fast. S erious symptoms do not as a rule transpire until about the second or third week of 
abstinence, and then these demonstrations may assume any of the forms of debility. In the experience of the writer are severa l 
cases in whom at this period violent delirium occurred, as well as others who suffered from milder mental derangement. But in all 
of these instances, even in those in which death succeeded, there was rapid emergence from the mental cloud, and consciousnes s 
continued unimpaired either to dissolution or  to recovery. In the cases mentioned as having developed extreme mental disturbance some structural deformation of the colon was noted. Thi s 
defect, despite the employment of high enemata, acted as an obstacle to the movement of bowel contents through th e organ, and 
the refuse, liquid in form, purely waste and poisonous in the extreme, was thus permitted to be absorbed in quantity, giving rise to 
a degree of toxemia that induced the delirium. No surprise is evinced at intoxication resulting from the consu mption of alcohol; 
none should be shown at the drunkenness produced by poisons that are self -generated. There are other instances in whom organic development of the small intestines has been arrested in early life through disease  or 
through drugs, or in whom other forms of deformation of this portion of the alimentary tract exist. During a fast these subjects may 
exhibit distressing symptoms that continue for some days. They seldom, however, experience mental crises, but they do require  
exceeding care in direction, both while fasting and in the after -period of rebuilding. But always each case develops its own 
manifestations, and it does not necessarily follow that severe forms of mental aberration invariably proceed from intestinal organic 
defect. When f unctional disease alone is the difficulty to be overcome, the case in treatment is simplicity itself. Patients of this class 
ordinarily are able to care for themselves throughout a fast of the duration necessary. But, whenever organic disease exists,  
wheth er in the form presented in Class 2, or in that in Class 3 of previous mention (Chapter VIII), unpleasant and possibly severe  
symptoms are inevitable. In these circumstances all of the courage and the wisdom evolved through long experience in handling  
disease as nature dictates are needed to meet the conditions. Knowledge of the direct causation of the delirium, of the stupor, o f 
any and all of the symptoms of toxic poisoning, none of which are ever wholly absent in extreme organic disability, then give s 
confidence to the directing mind. It knows that, because of abstinence from food, because of the purifying processes in progress, 
because of reduced organic effort, the life of the patient will be considerably prolonged. It also knows that, if death occur , it is the 
result of lesions in the organ or organs involved, progressed to a degree that even the minimized labor demanded is beyond 
performance. Let it be repeated that in the fast there can be no danger of death by starvation. The safeguard of all life is hunger --true hunger, not 
appetite. And, when the process of systemic purification is successfully completed --and this is always possible unless conditions 
just noted are existent --hunger must return and food must be supplied. Skill in the treatment of  disease by the use of the fast and its natural accessories cannot be acquired from books, for as yet there are 
none that cover any except basic truths, and these with but meager detail. The subject is vast, and it is the more interestin g in that it 
contro verts age -long belief in the efficacy of drugs and the efficiency of the medicine men, the opposition of whom to the spread 
of its teaching is still most effective. Hence only long practice of the method with resulting experience can give the knowle dge 
essential in surmounting the difficulties that may and do arise. In concluding this chapter it is again affirmed that the fast in itself is but a means to an end' a process that permits of o rganic rest, 
physiological purification, and bodily recuperation. C ure--recovery --cannot be achieved until the subject agrees then and thereafter 
to cooperate with nature thus permitting her to carry what has been successfully begun to successful conclusion. Page 36 of  72 CHAPTER X  
THE DURATION OF THE FAST  
 
DISTINCTION BETWEEN APP ETITE AND HUNGER:  
THE LAW OF HUNGER DETERMINES THE LENGTH OF A FAST   
 
THE DURATION of a fast to complete purification is a matter that can never be predicated in any individual case, for the 
beginning of the period of abstinence from food is coincidental with illness, and the end is reached, in the absence of organic 
deficiency, when hunger marks the return of digestive power. Until true hunger becomes apparent, and it cannot be mistaken, a  fast 
which has for its purpose full systemic cleansing should cont inue. Not until hunger indicates the need for food is the organism in 
condition to receive and transform it into tissue structure. The sensation of hunger is a safeguard established by nature to insure bodily maintenance. It is the first faculty that the  infant 
exercises after birth, and its office in all life is that of a watchful caretaker entrusted with interests beyond the ordinar y in import. Natural consciousness of hunger has largely been usurped by appetite, by artificial craving produced by the cu ltivation of the sense 
of taste and by regularity in the habits of feeding. Hunger is an involuntary sensation --as involuntary as is the beating of the heart. It is not created by the individual, nor does it make its appearance at stated hours or by exerc ise of the will. Hunger, the law that 
governs the conservation of all physical life, is constructive; but appetite, its counterfeit, easily called into being, and just as easily 
caused to appear at fixed times, is destructive in effect. In disease hunger  is absent; and during fasting appetite, too, ordinarily vanishes after a few days. When, in the fast, toxic 
elimination is complete, hunger, not appetite, returns. Hunger is normal; appetite is abnormal. And this distinction, conside red in 
connection with  the breaking of a fast, is most important. The question of resumption of feeding does not lie for answer in the 
judgment of either physician or patient. It rests with the law of hunger alone. During a fast that is to be prolonged until h unger 
returns, foo d of any kind is an intruder, for the energy of the body is being directed through the organs of elimination towards 
cleansing the system of self -manufactured poison. The coated tongue, the foul breath, all of the more or less unpleasant symptoms 
heretofor e described, are but signs of the presence in decomposing condition of food and tissue waste. And, being of 
decomposition, they are also signs of the death of life -giving substances and of portions of the organism itself, the products of 
which are most har mful unless promptly removed from the body. When toxic elimination has reached the vanishing point, the 
juncture at which rebuilding of cell structure is demanded lest the body die, hunger will definitively appear. Hunger is the abiding 
law of animal exist ence; it is the signal of instinct by which the living organism perceives that food is needed for repair and 
growth. And, in a fast, with it, the clean tongue, the sweet breath, the signs of normal life, are coincident. In functional disease a fast may b e carried to its logical end without anxiety, for resident in the body there exists at all times a 
supply of tissue pabulum for use in repair and growth, whether the latter be ordinary or extraordinary. This reserve is const antly 
called upon in health or i n illness, while feeding or fasting, for the nourishment and upbuilding of nerve and brain substances, and 
the latter never suffer deterioration in quality nor in structure unless in themselves they are specifically diseased. Even i n instances 
of death fro m starvation, nerve tissue and that of the brain show no loss. They make use of the food reserve held in the interstices 
of tissue, and they draw upon this accumulation for support. The nervous system regains its energy, when depleted, through re st 
alone, but it maintains its quality through the means described. Hence, so long as there remain tissues, and this includes the blood , 
sufficient to carry on the work of the functions and of the circulation, brain and nerves will continue their directing tasks , and they 
cannot waste in the process. That a supply of healthy tissue food exists within the body during a fast, and that it is not exhausted until the return of n atural 
hunger, does not rest for proof upon the dictum of medical observation in cases of sta rvation. In the chapter of the text devoted to 
illustrative cases an instance is cited of eventual healing by first intention during a fast of fifty -two days of a sore three inches in 
diameter, a suppurating sore so virulent in character that the periosteu m of the bone beneath was exposed. Two cases of illness 
during pregnancy are also noted in which the prospective mothers fasted for twenty -two and thirty days respectively. In the bodies 
of each of these women the growth of the fetus was progressive and no rmal, despite omission of ingestion. Due to their functional 
disorder, hunger was absent in these pregnant patients, but a supply of nourishment, and wholesome nourishment at that, was a t 
hand, and it served to maintain the organisms of the mothers and to build those of the forming children for the periods given 
above, and at term each mother was delivered of a child in all respects physiologically normal. The signs of a successfully completed fast are most easily recognized. The tongue is pink and clean,  the breath is sweet, and 
appetite or false hunger is supplanted by natural desire for food, a sensation that is exquisite beyond description, and that  may be 
realized only by a purified and regenerated system. Again, because of the importance of the sub ject, iteration is made. Hunger is at all times to be distinguished from appetite. Hunger 
is discriminative and preserves the body. Appetite is abnormal desire and ultimately destroys. Hunger is primarily indicated in the 
mouth, and, if not relieved, it be comes an organic craving that can be satisfied only by digestible food; but appetite cannot be so 
silenced; it continually searches for this or for that; it is never satisfied. Page 37 of  72 Natural hunger indicates a system with all channels of vitality freed from obs truction, with every nerve sensitized to the extreme of 
response to impulse. This adjustment of bodily power and function is invariably evident when a fast has been scientifically 
conducted to completion. And it is here observed that this conserved of the organism, this all -important warder of its needs, stands 
ever in the guise of what may be termed organic intelligence, for, in a body free from toxin -producing substances, hunger displays 
selective intelligence, in great part demanding foods adapted in kin d and proportion to constructive need. And, when the latter is 
satisfied, the hunger sense is quiescent, to return only when the organism again signifies renewed desire. With the return of natural hunger after a fast, the food selective sensations, taste  and smell, are discovered to be unusually keen 
and active. Too often are these faculties perverted by abuse to the extent of accepting and presumably enjoying food and odor s that 
are abhorrent to naturally constituted organisms. At the conclusion of a fas t, taste and smell act as co -indicators with hunger in 
determining the limit of abstinence; they, too, are restored to normal acuity. And with them thirst reverts to standard --not a desire 
for liquid that is produced by stimulation or by drug -exhaustion of  the fluids of the body, but one that makes known the natural 
need for their replenishment. The being that eats when hunger, not appetite, calls, that drinks when thirst, not stimulation,  
demands, and that follows unquestioningly the selective sensations o f taste and of smell, need never know disease. It is sometimes good judgment to break a fast before the system is fully purified, then to return to abstinence after an inte rval of 
corrective diet. While this method is perhaps not as satisfactory in resul t as is that of the logically completed fast, it is at times 
expedient, and especially so in personally conducted essays into natural therapy, when there is lack of intelligent direction . Good 
judgment may also indicate shortening the period of abstinence when there is certainty of the presence of organic disease, or when 
preparation for the fast has been carelessly performed or entirely omitted. But, even though organic deficiency exists, the b ody is 
more certain of recovery when a fast is undertaken, sinc e organic labor is thus gradually reduced, and progressive relief is afforded 
the system as a whole. In these conditions the sole hope either of partial recuperation or of ultimate cure lies in the syste mic 
purification which the fast permits and in the re st afforded to the defective organ or organs which have been laboring under more 
than usual functional strain. The question, "How long must I fast until my system is purified?" is one that may never be answered with certainty. Each 
individual develops hi s own case, and each case has its own limitations and requirements. And the further fact is to be faced that 
no matured human body in which disease is present may be brought to health within a definitely limited period of time. A life time 
of wrong living, more or less extended, has contributed to disease, and, especially in the chronic case, it is unreasonable to assume 
that nature, even when permitted a free hand, may within a few short weeks or months bring about the physiological changes 
necessary to fun ction. When a fast is successfully completed, the body functions in a sphere of natural activity, and no conception may be had, save  in 
the indicated condition, of the gratification that accompanies the simpler acts that constitute physical life. To eat rationally, to eat 
only at the demand of hunger and not to excess, become pleasures that are exquisite, and that are not marred with regret for the 
flesh pots. Nature asks of him who would live the balanced physical life but the will and the ability to f ollow logically the details of the 
simple law outlined in this chapter, the law of hunger, which, obeyed brings health for reward; but, which, violated, condemn s the 
offender to condign and lasting punishment. CHAPTER XI  
BREAKING THE FAST  
 
FRUIT JUICES  AND VEGETABLE BROTHS:  
GRADUAL.RETURN TO SOLID FOOD:  
WHAT ABOUT MILK? AT ONE point in the discussion comment is made to the effect that one of the chief difficulties presented by the fast is its 
simplicity of application. In a sense this statement is p aradoxical, but the method has been criticised adversely because of 
injudicious trial by subjects who deemed that the sole essential of this natural aid to health is abstinence from food. There  are 
reasons that are obvious for this erroneous conception, wh ich is based upon generally displayed and deplorable ignorance of the 
anatomy and physiology of the human body. Physical pleasure and physical pain are recognized sensations, but their causes, sa ve 
as to the acts that produce them, are most infrequently in vestigated and are still more seldom understood, even when scientifically 
explained. The author believes that most mature intellects are capable of grasping the essentials of human anatomy and 
physiology, and for that matter those of any of the systems of therapeutics, that of medicine included. But science has invented a language of its own --its terms are more or less foreign to the lay mind. And suffering humanity is not at 
all prone to devote many moments to the translation of prescriptions in order to  discover the nature of their ingredients. What it 
wants is relief, and it wants it delivered with despatch. And because humanity in general spends little time in educating its elf in the 
care of its bodies, excepting in superficial ways, when illness occur s, it is necessarily dependent upon its physicians, to whose 
Page 38 of  72 interest it is to offer to the patient assistance but not knowledge. It is really an attempt at release from this sort of dep endency that 
causes the average mortal to grasp at some suggested reme dy, whether it be a palliative that has relieved a suffering neighbor, or 
whether it be the promise of systemic purification which he is told will result from the omission of the ingestion of food fo r a time. But, again, in the average case, because of ana tomical and physiological ignorance, difficulties are sure to arise. It is the desire of 
the author to present the details of the method described herein in statements so plain, so free from technical wording, that  any 
seeker for truth in the cause of dise ase and its natural treatment may at once read and understand. A fast should be undertaken only in the presence of disease, and it should be scientifically conducted. The latter statement should 
be taken as meaning that, in so far as the anatomical and p hysiological state of the patient may be discovered by symptom and 
examination, they should be observed and understood. Only in this manner may it be determined whether systemic purification b y 
the interrupted fast or by one protracted to the return of nat ural hunger is the course to be pursued. If morbid conditions, other than 
those that are at first apparent, are latent, if the body has been carrying the burden of organs that are structurally defect ive, the fast 
is certain to uncover the facts, and it is then altogether probable that symptoms will develop that will need to be coped with by 
competent experienced hands. When, however, derangements that are purely functional are in question, a self -piloted case may 
progress to the end of the period of abstine nce with success, but may not be able to solve the problem of breaking his fast assured 
of conserving all of its benefits. An experienced director of the method is well aware that there are subjects, in number sufficient to be distinguished as a cl ass, 
who, through physial defect in organs, store within the system food -poison in amount greatly in excess of that which is discovered 
in ordinary cases of functional disease. These subjects are to be grouped under Class 2 in the division of general disease fo rms 
tabulated previously. In them, constant stimulation, which is directly due to cumulative poisoning in progress, prevents reco gnition 
of the presence of the toxins themselves until some more serious indiscretion completes the overturn of physical balance . If now a 
fast is begun without preparation, difficulties are immediately encountered, for elimination commences with a rush of impurit ies 
seeking escape from the system, and, for a time, the tide is irresistible. Food cannot be taken, even though the wil l to eat exists, and 
abstinence must continue until systemic purification is accomplished. In these circumstances, during the first days of fastin g 
distressing symptoms may develop, and dread of the outcome may lead to an attempt to supply food. If this is  done, the trouble 
will be aggravated, for the whole organism is saturated with toxic material, and nourishment added then is just so much poiso n the 
more. Fear now takes full possession of family and friends, and perhaps of the patient as well, and the de adliest foe to the means 
that nature employs in dealing with disease is called to offset the work already accomplished. Medicine and neglect of the en ema 
will then no doubt complete what food occasioned, and the chances are that death will ensue. In an ins tance such as this no defense 
of the method is accepted, and it is visited with wide -spread and emphatic condemnation; whereas, were the conditions observed 
received at their real worth, they would be recognized as natural and salutary in origin and action , and as evidences that extreme 
and successful organic effort towards cure was at work. To break a fast in the manner described is a much more serious matter than to do so upon an incorrect dietary at the logical end of 
abstinence. But the point of great est import here to be given attention is that of the confidence that should be engendered and the 
care that should be taken lest, when distressing symptoms occur, fear step in and with it food and drugs. Relief for localize d pain 
and distress lies in the a dministration of copious enemata, duplicated and reduplicated, for only in this manner may prompt 
removal of their toxic causation be effected. In the ordinary instance a successfully completed fast should be broken by the ingestion of the juices of ripe  fruit or of broths 
prepared from vegetables. The juices of fruits that are fully ripened are most easily changed in mouth and stomach for subseq uent 
digestive processes, and there is but small effort in handling them. The same reasoning is applicable to t he use of vegetable broths, 
strained through a coarse kitchen sieve so as to remove fibrous material and hard solid particles. There are many vegetables that 
lend themselves readily to the preparation of these broths, and, when the latter are made as indic ated so as to exclude all but finely 
comminuted solid matter, they are easily digested and their products are assimilated promptly and without difficulty. When us ing 
the juices of fruit to break a fast, it is suggested that those of sweet fruit be not mixe d with those of acid. One fruit at a time is the 
rule. At first the broths should be confined in preparation to one vegetable, such as the tomato or the onion. Later they may  be 
varied in ingredients, and combinations may be made of two or three kinds. The  tomato is perhaps the one vegetable that lends 
itself most satisfactorily to the breaking of a fast, and it is in constant use for this purpose by the author. As gradual approach to abstinence has been shown to be conducive to success in outcome, so, af ter systemic cleansing has been 
wholly or in part accomplished, return to solid food should be brought about by degrees. The digestive organs have been depri ved 
for a time of the exercise of their tasks, and, if at first overloaded and hence over -stimulate d by surfeit, they are apt to refuse 
function, and toxication will perhaps recur with results that may prove troublesome. Hence it is recommended that, for severa l 
days after a fast is broken, not more than two pints of the broths described daily ingested,  increasing this amount to three pints 
when digestion is fully reestablished. Vegetables in solid form may then be substituted, with, as a variant, salads of lettuc e, 
tomatoes, and other like food -stuffs, alone or in combination. It is further recommended that a daily two -meal plan be thereafter 
adopted and adhered to, for, in most instances, with proper selection, two meals each day are ample for constructive demand. When return has been made to solid food after a fast, the morning meal may be confined sol ely to fruit, while the second repast 
should include a salad in some form or other. Page 39 of  72 In resuming feeding after fasting very young children it is found that the strained juice of ripe tomatoes, heated to about 2 00 
degrees, or that of carrots boiled to tende rness, gives satisfactory results. Malted milk or orange juice and honey may also be used. In some of the treatises upon fasting for the relief of disease patients are advised, upon the return of hunger, to resume fe eding 
upon a dietary composed exclusiv ely of the milk of the cow, gradually increasing the amount ingested until as many as eight quarts 
daily are consumed. The author differs widely from this recommendation, and reasons in support of this difference of opinion are 
here presented. With sligh t variations referable to man the milk of the cow contains all of the nutritive compounds required by a growing animal, 
and it contains them in the proportions of a correct scientific dietary. Popularly milk is regarded as a beverage rather than , as in 
truth it is a nutrient vehicle most concentrated in the combination of its elements. In order to present a comprehensive idea of  its 
composition, it is well to study the solid products of milk as they are obtained by various processes in the dairy, the kitch en, and 
the laboratory. It may also prove helpful to enumerate and describe the classes into which the solids of milk are divided. Th ese are: 
(1) proteid; (2) fat; (3) sugar; and (4) mineral matter. Fat constitutes about four per cent of the weight of mil k. In the common process of making butter the greater portion of the fat is 
separated from the other ingredients. The liquid which remains, called buttermilk, contains the rest of the nutrients of the milk 
excepting those small portions that cling to the f at. On examining buttermilk after it has become a little sour, it will be seen that it 
contains a white solid which in the process of churning has been divided into very small particles. This solid is casein, the  chief 
proteid of milk. It constitutes 3.3 p er cent, or about one -thirtieth, of the weight of the milk  
 
The souring of whole milk also helps to an understanding of its composition. When this takes place the casein and most of the  fat 
separate from the still liquid portion (the whey), and form what is known as the curd. When, however, the attempt is made to 
separate the curd completely for the purpose of making what is known as cottage cheese, much of the fat is usually carried of f with 
the whey. And again in the processes of manufacture of butter an d cheese one becomes familiar with the solid, casein, and with the 
fat of milk. But even the whey, the liquid portion, has important solids in it that are less apparent and consequently not as  well 
known. By heating whey it is discovered that it is filled with small particles of white matter that soon sink to the bottom of the 
liquid. This is albumen, a substance always present in cow's milk, though in much smaller amount than is the casein. It resem bles 
the albumen of the white of egg, and it differs from casein by not curding when milk sours, and by remaining in solution in the 
whey. Furthermore it does not form curd in the stomach, which the casein does. This proteid which by the process of heating i s 
shown to be present in the whey is the chief proteid i n mother's milk, but in cow's milk it is, as has been said, in very much smaller 
amount than the curding proteid. Therefore, cow's milk, even if diluted and modified, can never be a perfect equivalent for h uman 
milk, and it is easy to understand that a pro teid that remains dissolved in the whey is more readily digested than one which curds 
soon after reaching the stomach. Milk also contains five per cent of sugar. This sugar is not like that which is used on the table, but is much less sweet, an d it acts 
differently from ordinary sugar in the processes of digestion. The mineral matter in milk constitutes about seven -tenths of one per cent of its weight, and it is more abundant in comparison with 
other nutrients than in any other common food. This is as i t should be, for this material is in greater part intended for bone -building 
in the body of the calf. When taken into the human system, the amount of mineral matter present in cow's milk is much in exce ss 
of that needed for growth and repair, and, entering  the circulation and not being available for constructive metabolism, it, like any 
other foreign matter, acts harmfully upon the organism. Milk as secreted by the cow, and consumed as intended by the calf from its teats, is a food that is anti -acid in di gestive reaction, 
but, delivered for human domestic use hours old, it is placed by fermentative changes in the acid -forming class. At the end of a 
short fast, almost without exception, the animal organism is in a condition of high acidity. It does not need  a mind professionally 
trained to conceive of the result of pouring into a system in this state large amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, es pecially in 
the concentrated form in which these elements occur in cow's milk. Nor is much mental effort req uired to comprehend the 
difficulties that are encountered by the eliminative organs in the attempt to rid the organism of its surfeit of waste, while  both 
assimilative organs and circulation are forced to function with putrefaction at work at the source of  supply. Now there are cases which, after a fast, seemingly improve upon a diet of milk, but observation leads to the conviction that the 
benefits noted, if any, are due first, to the fast with its purifying effects, partial though they may be; second, t o the one -food 
regimen imposed; and third, to the physical rest insisted upon. But whatever benefits accrue are in most instances temporary,  and it 
is but natural that this should be so, for, even when the milk is handled without immediate distress, all of  the organs involved in 
body metabolism are called upon to work to a degree that their labors are most inefficiently performed, and the possibility e xists 
that they may break with the effort. It will be discovered that within a short time after the regimen  described has been imposed 
upon a patient, the latter will have developed extreme congestion of the liver, high -colored, waste -laden urine, and systemic bilious 
saturation. And these cases always prove most difficult to bring to a purified state because o f the toxic impregnation that follows 
milk-flooding. Page 40 of  72 In the present discussion the digestive capability under contemplation is that of a subject who has just succeeded in ridding  his 
system in whole or in part of the toxic products of ingestion in excess of the needs of his body. In a partial fast it is deemed best to 
resume feeding, while in a completed fast hunger has returned and food must be supplied. If the milk of the cow is the form i n 
which nourishment is offered, and if, in addition, not a small q uantity, but, as advised, from four to eight quarts daily are imbibed, 
for each quart consumed, an equivalent in flesh food of about one pound is presented for digestion. The purpose of the fast i s at 
once defeated, since the most vigorous of bodies is una ble to transform and to assimilate this mass of material, however digestible 
it may in essence be. The excess, and it is virtually all excess, fills the alimentary tract with decomposing waste, and the system is 
again in the developing process of disease. And after all, the milk of the cow is intended only as food for the calf. There are instances upon breaking a fast when some form of milk will be accepted by the digestive processes of certain indivi duals 
when those foods already indicated as suitable fo r the resumption of feeding are merely tolerated. In circumstances like these the 
milk of the goat is recommended for consumption, but in small amounts. Goat's milk in composition carries with it lesser 
quantities of mineral salts than does cow's milk it c urds, not in masses, but in more or less separated particles when it meets the 
gastric juices while its fats are held in suspension, thus making them more easy of digestion. And there is this added advant age that 
the goat is not susceptible to tubercular i nfection. When, after a fast, digestive power asserts itself, and the bowels begin naturally to respond, the enemata are gradually 
discontinued. Suggestions as to their use in health are given in the chapter devoted to a discussion of the internal bath, but it may 
here be said that natural movements of the bowels are dependent upon normal digestion; and this truth is but slightly qualifi ed by 
saying that for normal function muscular tone is also a necessary condition in intestinal walls. For the attainmen t of the latter and 
for the rebuilding of general muscular quality, a system of exercise is recommended and insisted upon from the time that the fast is 
broken. This, like the dietetic regimen, should be entered upon in gradual manner, and should be increa sed and extended in 
proportion as the body shows progressive capability. The procedure to be followed in breaking a fast demands both caution and care. At the end of a successfully completed period of 
abstinence, with hunger in evidence, weak -willed pati ents are almost certain to overstep the salutary limit of ingestion. In cases 
like these acute crises may develop because of congestion of the circulatory system. All of the organs of the body will be in cluded 
in the revolt and the brain itself may suffer. When a gradual process of return to normal supply of sustenance is not pursued, the 
benefits of a fast are largely annulled; hence, if will power be lacking in the subject, its equivalent in supervision must b e furnished 
by the director of treatment, and,  if needful, personal watch should be established. When there are structural organic defects in the colon, they may or may not prove shortening to life; but, when, at the end o f a fast, 
feeding is resumed, even slight displacement in this organ may retar d elimination to such degree that absorption of toxins will 
cause severe physical and even mental distress. This is especially liable to occur in those cases that are without guidance, in whom 
ignorance of the consequences of succumbing to desire exists, a nd will control is feeble. And, even under supervision, oftentimes, 
when desire impels and opportunity occurs, the patient will overeat. This tendency must be controlled, for serious results wa it upon 
premature excessive demand upon the functions. Defectiv e or normal in vital parts, man here learns to live within the limitations of 
his organs. Preparation for a fast, and the fast itself, are seen to be comparatively easy in accomplishment, but resumption of 
feeding after abstinence is a more difficult proce dure. PART FOUR  
THE HYGIENE OF THE FAST  
 
CHAPTER XII  
HYGIENIC ACCESSORIES OF THE FAST  
 
BREATHING:  
BATHING:  
SLEEP:  
EXERCISE   
 
BREATHING. --Nature has provided in the air that surrounds the earth a plentiful supply of oxygen, a gas that is essential to the 
maintenance of human life. Its function within the human body lies in replacing carbonic acid, a poisonous gas developed by t he 
breaking down of tissue, and delivered to the lungs in venous blood. The interchange of carbonic acid and oxygen occurs in th e 
lungs, since in the process of breathing, as carbonic acid is exhaled, oxygen is inhaled. The act of respiration exposes the blood, 
held within the thin walls of the pulmonary capillaries, to the air, and by mutual diffusion the two operations of oxygenatio n and of 
decarbonization are accomplished at one and the same time. The muscular movements made in breathing are not dependent upon 
the will, as this process goes in in sleep and in other unconscious states. The rate of respiration in health varies from fou rteen to 
eighteen breaths per minute, and, besides carbonic acid, watery vapor and a small amount of organic matter are exhale d.  
 
In order to furnish oxygen to the system, from three hundred to four hundred cubic feet of air are drawn into the lungs in tw enty-
Page 41 of  72 four hours. Each hour an adult inhales about five hundred grains of oxygen and emits about six hundred grains of carbonic  acid, 
with a much larger amount of watery vapor. Deprived of air, the body quickly perishes from asphyxiation. Not only is a continued supply of pure air essential to life, but constant care is necessary to insure its purity at the mome nt of 
intake. The  natural passages that carry air to the lungs begin at the nostrils, and these are furnished with short, fine hairs and with 
mucus secretion, preventives of the inhalation of dust and light material. If obstruction of the nasal tract occurs, it is po ssible  for 
breathing to take place through the mouth, but so harmful is the latter method to general health that attention is here direc ted to its 
results. A child that is overfed invariably develops a cold with accompanying nasal discharge and consequent obst ruction of the natural air 
passages. A prolonged cold, or a series of colds, compels the use of the mouth for the act of breathing, a method that, if no t 
corrected, eventually becomes habitual. Constant irritation and inflammation of the mucus membrane of the nostrils and of the 
vault of the pharynx cause the much discussed adenoid growths to form, and complete or partial obstruction of the air canal i s 
thereafter permanent until removal of the obstacles is accomplished. In the ordinary manner this is done by the knife of the 
surgeon, but the shock to the organism of the child, both of the anesthetic and of the operation, is often productive of sequ elae that 
persist through life, and this method for the removal of adenoid growth, so prevalent in recent years , is to be disparaged. In infancy 
and adolescence these annoying gland -like enlargements may not only be prevented in formation but may be removed through 
natural absorptive means, if proper attention is given to diet, and if short fasts are intermittently  performed. In training the child in 
the care of his body, it is quite important that he be taught to free the nasal passages from gathered mucus at the least sen sation of 
obstructive fullness. This is usually effectively accomplished by blowing the nose. Children who are affected with nasal obstruction are more or less stupid and sluggish, and they oftentimes exhibit a facial 
expression approaching that of imbecility. In fact, when the habit of mouth breathing has been contracted, even when no obsta cle 
is present in the naso -pharyngeal vault, not only do the nasal passages, through lack of exercise, fail of normal development, but 
the open mouth and dull eyes denote a serious deficiency in intellectual advance and capability. We cannot know the exact so urce whence is received the influx of energy, the expression of which in the human body is life; nor 
are we yet aware of the manner in which vital force penetrates the organism and governs its movements and its thought. But li fe is 
evidently not inherent i n the body, and, whatever its source, vital power must reach its vehicle of expression through surrounding 
atmosphere, through the air that the body breathes. Transference to the brain directly through the bony structure lying immed iately 
above and back of  the nasal passages is conceivable; and, while the purity of the atmospheric constituents that furnish the lungs 
with blood -regenerating matter may well be vitiated by transmission through paths not naturally intended, the lack of 
intellectuality of most m outh breathers cannot be accounted for on this basis. And yet it exists. Hence the theory here presented --
that vital force enters the body from without through the natural air passages, passing to the brain through the bony cavitie s 
immediately above and i n their rear. Whatever the attitude of the reader in respect to this thought, which holds place only as theory 
in the mind of the author, there can be no question of the importance to be attached to the cultivation of a nasal breathing habit, a 
habit that is at once preventive of disease and preservative of health. In the fast correct respiratory methods must be pursued, and deep breathing is also recommended. Every portion of the lung 
surface should be exposed at all times to the general purifying proces s resultant from oxygenation of the blood, and to insure this 
contact, in addition to lung exercise, the body should be surrounded by fresh pure air day and night. Well ventilated living and 
sleeping rooms are important to the highest degree in illness and  in health. BATHING. --The skin or covering of the human body consists of an outer layer called the cuticle, and of an inner one, the corium. These constitute the true skin, but under them lies a third layer of cellular tissue, which is considered also as  part of the skin, when 
that term is used in its most comprehensive sense. In man the skin is covered more or less with scattered hairs, profuse in s ome 
parts and scanty in others. The office of the skin is one of protection to the organs beneath, and it i s also a vast excretory or 
eliminative system, sending out moisture with waste matter in solution through the sudoriferous or sweat glands located in it s 
structure. Each of these glands consists of a long line tube, situated in the cutaneous cellular tissu e and coiled into a knot near its 
closed end. This constitutes the gland proper. Then there is connected with it a straight or spiral duct that traverses the o uter layers 
and ends in a surface opening called a pore. Nearly three thousand of the latter are found upon a square inch of the palm of the 
hand, and at least five -hundred on an equal space upon other parts of the body. Perspiration is the watery matter "breathed out" from the system through the pores described. It is more copious than the exu datio n 
from the lungs by respiration, but the amount discharged varies greatly, as it is affected the heat or the dryness of the atm osphere, 
by liquids consumed, by exercise, and by the relative activity of the kidneys. Sensible perspiration is that which is pe rceptible in 
the form of small drops, but by far the larger portion exuded is of the insensible or non -visible kind. Solid matter is carried to the 
surface of the skin in the sweat, and authorities all agree that a considerable proportion of the total wast e of the body is evacuated 
in this manner. Close sympathy exists between the functions of the skin and those of the lungs, the kidneys, the liver, and the bowels, and t his is 
Page 42 of  72 evidenced in that, when one or other of the latter organs is disabled in functi on, perspiration is sympathetically deranged and vice 
versa. This does not necessarily mean that the effect produced is that of physical transference of the suppressed exhalation to the 
internal organ or the reverse, although this may be so; but the chief impression seems to be made upon the nervous system. The 
importance of the relation existing between the skin and the other excretory organs is such that it cannot be disregarded whe n 
disease is to be remedied. In order to insure full functional activity  of the surface of the body, frequent bathing is necessary. For this purpose one daily 
cleansing bath is essential in health. By it, dead, scaly particles of skin, dirt, and the products of perspiration are remov ed, the 
pores are cleared of surface obstruc tion, and the other eliminative organs are relieved of the performance of extra labor. When, as 
in the fast, the process of elimination is active in the extreme, cleansing baths may never be neglected. A cleansing bath is a hot bath. One at temperature o f about 105 degrees Fahrenheit is cleansing in the highest degree if pure 
vegetable oil soap be freely -used and the brush or cloth be vigorously plied. During a fast the temperature of the water in the daily 
bath or baths should upon entrance be approximat ely 100 degrees, and it should be gradually increased to as high as 107 or 110 
degrees, with about twenty minutes submergence as the time limit. Baths such as this are not only cleansing, but are relaxing  and 
tonic in effect. In cases of lowered temperatur e, habitual or temporary, the latter as in fasters' chilliness, correction to normal 
register, with systemic equalization of circulation, is rapidly effected by resorting to this therapeutic agency. Its very ap parent 
benefits are due not only to the artifi cial raising of body heat, but to the process of osmosis, or interchange of fluids, that takes 
place in the capillary tubes constituting the pores of the skin. Cold baths should never be employed during a fast. They have  but 
slight cleansing properties, bu t in health they exert a powerful stimulating action on the circulation and the nervous system. Because of the oily nature of the waste brought by perspiration through the pores to the surface of the body, the skin can ne ver be 
rendered perfectly clean w ith water alone. Hence the recommendation concerning the use of pure vegetable oil soap. While the ancients made use of and elaborated the bath for purposes not only of cleanliness but also of social and intellectu al 
objects, after the advent of Christia nity and its domination of the civilized world, the bath fell into disrepute. Departure from the 
cleanly habit of body characteristic of early civilization was due directly to the rise and growth of the religion of Christ. The 
church frowned upon the care of the body, deeming it as negligible in comparison with the soul. And the early fathers in instances 
went so far as to impose penance upon those who gazed at the nakedness of their own bodies. Cultivated modesty, prudishness, 
thus had its part in the reve rsion that took place from the bathing habits of the Greeks and the Romans. Centuries later John 
Wesley uttered the aphorism, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness," but whether his reference was to the mind rather than to the  body, 
it is impossible now to kno w.  
 
Not so long ago the bathtub was generally condemned by medical authority in the United States, and about the time this was 
happening the cultured city of Boston by ordinance made bathing unlawful, save on the advice of a physician. However, be it s aid 
in extenuation of the hygienic condition of the Bostonese, the ordinance was characterized by slack enforcement and was final ly 
repealed, but not until 1862. The good doctors of that generation averred that bathing, especially in winter, led to phthisis , 
rheumatic fevers, inflammation of the lungs, and to the whole category of zymotic disease. In the public prints bathing was 
inveighed against as subversive of democratic simplicity and of pioneer hardihood. And even today the medical profession is c hary 
of advice regarding the hot cleansing bath, as, they say, it is weakening in its effects. It is said that the first bathtub to be built and used in the Republic was that of one Adam Thompson, a citizen of Cincinnati , who 
installed his lead -lined, mahogany -covered receptacle in the year 1842. Water was supplied from the kitchen stove by way of the 
tea-kettle. His temerity appeared as a gross misdemeanor in the eyes of the press, the public, the medical profession, and the 
legislatures of those days. Later, i n 1851, President Fillmore braved public opinion and placed the first bathtub in the White House. There is no doubt that today in the mechanical conveniences connected with the bath, America surpasses the bathing arrangemen ts 
of other ages and other race s, but socially and sanitarily we have yet some distance to go before reaching the bathing standards and 
facilities of ancient Persia, of Rome, and of present -day Japan. The ages -old warm bath habit of the Japanese causes them to look 
with the scorn of the  elect upon those who are so uncivilized as to omit a daily hot cleansing bath. Yet it is this habit that is one of 
the great factors in that over -crowded land that makes for the remarkable health and vigor of the Japanese as a race. The skin is the natu ral clothing of the body. Its protection to the parts beneath is aided by sub -cutaneous deposits of fat, a non -
conductor of heat, distributed more or less uniformly over the body.
Scientific_Fasting.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        In these circumstances elimination can take place only abnormally, with in all ca ses but 
partial removal of body waste. In  treating disease by natural methods the character of the toxin is not considered excepting in so 
far as it is an indication of the severity of illness, and the thought paramount concerns the condition of the organs involve d, with 
their ability to function, rather than with the nature of the circulating poison. The toxication or poisoning that results from absorption of certain products of metabolism has been said sometimes to cause 
delirium in the subject. This phenomenon, because it has infrequently bee n observed while a fast was in progress, has given rise to 
the contention that protracted abstinence from food occasions insanity. Nothing can be further from truth, for, when toxic 
elimination has been successfully accomplished, when the system is fully a nd physiologically purified, mentality is at maximum; 
and, on the other hand, cases displaying mental aberration to toxemia caused by overfeeding are speedily brought to sanity wh en 
food is denied. In fact, extreme auto -intoxication occurs more frequently when the subject is feeding than when he is fasting, and 
an overfed system is productive of poisons the effects of which upon mentality are more serious and more lasting than are tho se of 
stimulants or narcotics. Wounds and broken bones are healed and un ited by natural processes, and it is only through the operation of the latter that cures 
may be achieved. The fast and its accessories are not in themselves "processes", as the term is here used. Their office is th at of the 
removal of obstacles that lie in  the paths of action invariably pursued by nature in effecting her purpose of systemic cleansing, of 
casting out of the body the poisons that are the source of its disease. As a result of restoration of function that follows a  successful 
fast instances do occur where organic structural break -down is arrested and the organ is again placed in functioning condition, but 
these instances are exceptional. However, undertaking a fast in the hope that it in itself will succeed in overcoming to the point of 
recovery  serious structural organic defects, wounds, and broken bones, is to hope for an absurdity. In these circumstances the 
benefits that accrue from the application of the method are proportioned to the degree of the power of the organ or of the ti ssue 
involve d to recover itself. Death during a fast cannot occur unless there is organic disease, and not then unless the organ or organs affected are in suc h 
degenerated state as not to permit of repair; and it is conclusively demonstrated that in a scientifically  directed fast, although death 
in the conditions cited cannot be averted, yet because of organic labor lessened, life is prolonged for days or weeks, and di stress 
Page 33 of  72 and pain, if present, are much alleviated. The differentiation between starvation and fasti ng is made herein upon the basis that starvation occurs in consequence of food 
being denied to a system that is in need of sustenance, and that fasting consists in intentional abstinence from food by a sy stem in 
disease, a system which in consequence of it s physical unbalance is not only without desire for nutriment, but which in reality is in 
no need of it until its organism is purified and again in condition to perform its functions normally. The distinction stated  may be 
admitted, yet the fact is not alt ered that the two processes are in essence largely identical. But it has been observed that, deposited 
within the body, lies a reserve store of aliment, and it is also to be observed that this reserve is not in the main utilized  for tissue 
rebuilding, but is in most part intended at all times for the support and maintenance of the nervous system; and it is only when this 
supply of nerve sustenance is exhausted or prevented from serving its purpose that starvation occurs. Because of the possibil ity of 
these happenings in disease, the body may starve though it is well fed, for often in instances of overfeeding there is mal -
assimilation, often an essential organ is rendered functionally incapable through congestion, in consequence of which the ner vous 
system is  hindered from consuming its necessary nourishment since the channels of supply are obstructed. Hence it should be 
apparent that in functional disease during a fast starvation can begin only when fasting ends --at the disappearance of disease, at the 
return  of hunger. Whether we regard the vital principle, the animating force of the animal body, as an entity or, as modern science would have it, as 
the result of chemical transformations, it must be agreed that, during a fast whatever tissue construction occ urs happens in 
consequence of nutriment supplied from the reserve noted above, and this Dr. E. H. Dewey termed "Nature's bill of fare for th e 
sick. " Deprived of food, the subject then must subsist upon this menu, details of which have already been given in  the table quoted 
from Yeo's Physiology, a table which shows the estimated losses of the several tissues of the body in cases of starvation. During 
periods of abstinence from food the organism then subsists upon itself, and loss of body weight must occur. Directly this loss is 
due to the elimination, first, of the waste that caused disease, and, next and continuously with the other, of the refuse pro duced by 
catabolism or cell destruction. The dominant process in action at this time is that of expulsion of diseaseproducing matter, and it is 
obvious that the latter is at no point available for the repair of tissue, and that, held within the system, it acts not only  obstructively 
in the avenues of vitality, but that it also toxically vitiates function. This is  true of all refuse retained in the organism at any time, 
for this material, because of delay in expulsion, is rendered harmful through putrefactive changes. The points of difficulty related heretofore are in a sense technical in character, but there are  objections which embody personal 
opinion and prejudice that at times develop into serious obstacles. While fasting for the relief of disease has been known an d 
practiced individually in all countries of the world from prehistoric times, it was never advan ced in any land to the point where it 
could be regarded as a distinct system of therapeutics until the decade beginning about fifty years ago. Its rise from sporad ic 
application to the dignity of a school occurred about that time in the United States, and from then on its exponents and 
practitioners, persisting in the face of scientific opposition, gradually accomplished their purpose by proving their content ions, and 
at length have the satisfaction of seeing their conclusions accepted and adopted without a pology or acknowledgment by what may 
be termed intellectuaI authority. There is no form of ignorance that is so difficult to overcome and to instruct as is of the "scientific" mind. And, when the latter, as 
it sometimes does, obtains a conception of its error, it is extremely loth to admit, first, that it has not always been in possession of 
the truth, and, second, that it should render due credit to the mind responsible for its change of concept or belief. And, if  the 
position of the individual be such t hat he may with authority employ the power of mere assertion, it is usually much the easier way 
to announce as one's own discovery that which formerly one has denied and condemned, perhaps through prejudice, but more 
often through sheer ignorance. In thi s connection quotations are made from several articles and books recently issued by medical authors. These screeds are given 
with small comment, but they serve to illustrate the contemptuous attitude assumed by those of whom Louis Kuhne years ago sai d 
this: "Everywhere the new science of healing finds sympathetic acceptance, except among a few sceptics and those who believe 
that they know everything better than anyone else, and who generally consider it superfluous to make practical trial of any m ethod 
strange to the tenets of their own. " First let us hear Dr. W. A. Evans, who writes How to Keep Well, a syndicated letter at present published daily in various 
newspapers throughout the country. Dr. Evans has this to say about fasting:  
"On the shelves of the  Crerar Library (Chicago), or any other library of similar equipment, are many books on fasting. I 
know none that is even half way scientific, nor a quarter way trustworthy. One reason for this is that fasting is the sport o f 
amateurs, as one writer calls it. He might have added that it is the fad of faddists and the field of the faker. To further 
complicate matters, it is all mixed up with religion. Every religion has always had religious feasts, which are gorges, and 
its fasts. "Prof. Morgulis of the Un iversity of Nebraska has just put out a truly scientific book on the subject. The only trouble 
about this book is that it is so accurate, scientific, and technical that the man who needs it most cannot understand it. Page 34 of  72  
"Fasting is a remedial agent of enorm ous power --power for good and power for harm. Nothing the doctor carries in his 
saddle bags approximates fasting in its therapeutic possibilities. In fact, a doctor attends a patient through a long illness, 
giving him four kinds of medicine four times ever y day, it is probable that the under -nutrition through which the patient 
has passed by reason of his loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, or other quality of his disease, or the dieting to which h e 
was subjected, influenced both the patient and his disea se far more than did the medicine which was given. Comes now Dr. Frederick M. Allen, A. B. , M. D. , of the Rockefeller Institute Hospital, who about the year, 1915, advanced his  
"discovery" of the "starvation treatment" of diabetes. There is no need to dev ote more time to him than to say that as far back as 
1878 Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey successfully employed the fast in treating diabetes mellitus. A quotation now follows from Fasting and Undernutrition, the book of Professor Morgulis of the University of N ebraska College 
of Medicine. This is the author mentioned by Dr. Evans, who attributes to the Professor the only scientific work written upon  the 
fast--so scientific in fact that the man who needs it most cannot understand it. In his book Professor Morguli s has devoted himself 
solely to the physiological aspect of abstinence from food with its effects upon animals in health, neglecting its therapeuti cal 
possibilities, excepting to say in his preface: --"In the hands of the skilful practitioner of medicine total abstinence from food may 
prove a wonderfully effective weapon in restoring health. The therapeutic value of inanition, however, should be studied 
experimentally and not be left to the judgment of amateur enthusiasts. The practical value of inanition wi ll never be fully utilized 
until both laymen and the medical profession lose their instinctive fear of fasting". (My italics. ) Professor Morgulis, scien tific in 
mind and expression though he may be, makes in the statement given the egregious error of confu sing inanition, starvation, with 
fasting, forgetting or perhaps not knowing that there is no malnutrition comparable to the starvation that accompanies overea ting. Quotations from the writings of these men of science are made thus at length for several r easons. It is desired that the reader may 
be impressed with the truth that fasting for therapeutic purposes --fasting for the prevention and relief of disease --has been known 
and practiced for all of the historic ages of man. It is also to be emphasized tha t all animate nature, save man, instinctively refuses 
food when physical balance is disturbed. And, whether the discussion conducted herein be from the standpoint of science 
"scientific" or not, it will stand the sole test that makes for truth in that the results connoted are based upon long, faithful, and 
accurate observation and experiment of minds as capable of receiving and recording the phenomena connected with abstinence 
from food in illness or in health as are those of the scientists quoted. And it s hould possess the further distinction of being easily 
understandable by him who needs it most. The premises of the argument underlying the application of a fast for therapeutic will bear repetition. Disease, in whatever form 
evidenced, whatever the sympt om displayed, has its origin at the threshold of digestion. In disease itself lies relief. Disease and 
cure, viewed from the standpoint of nature, are a unity. The former may not be suppressed lest the latter fail of attainment. When 
an organism, constitut ed as is the body of man, becomes the victim of its own violation of hygienic law, when the avenues through 
which vital force, the source of life, is transmitted, are permitted to become obstructed, unless these channels are cleansed, are 
opened for the pa ssage of energy, life ceases and death occurs. In order that the passages through which the life principle reaches 
the separate parts of the human body may be free and unobstructed, a system of elimination exists. Building of tissue --
assimilation --takes pl ace as the result of food ingested and digested, but health depends upon a balance between nutrition and 
elimination. And there is no eliminative agency known to science comparable with a properly administered fast.
The condition of the organs involved and their ability to function.
What is the primary focus of natural methods of treating disease?
The condition of the organs involved and their ability to function.
What is the primary concern in treating disease by natural methods?
Hunger is a natural and involuntary sensation, while appetite is an abnormal and artificial desire for food.
What is the distinction between hunger and appetite?
To protect the parts beneath and to excrete waste through the pores and sweat glands.
What is the primary function of the skin?
The author advises against the use of cow's milk, as it may lead to toxication and hinder the healing process, and instead recommends the use of goat's milk or other suitable alternatives.
What is the author's opinion on the use of milk in breaking a fast?