possibilities; and there are no eyes so dull, no faces so void of light
and life, no skin degraded to a parchment, for a public display of an
assorted collection of evidences of physical poverty, in which these
changes to a higher life are not in some degree easily possible.
Face culture becomes of the profoundest interest when it is realized
that whatever there is in eyes and lines of expression that reveals a
soul in higher life, whatever there is in softness and delicacy of
texture, in color that is alive with life, is only the external
revelations of the higher life within. Nature is always at work over her
waste places, whether about the roots in the mouth, or in the depths of
the organs; and the aches, the pains of the living, and the agonies of
the dying are only evidences of the earnestness and persistence of her
efforts to right all her wrongs.
In what ways are drugs available in this kind of landscape culture; how
sent through the crystalline structures of the eye with clearing effect;
how to polish the retina and the surfaces to a sparkle? What drugs for
such culture? And yet the materia medica needs a hoist to place it on
the shelf. These external changes that become clearly apparent to even
dull eyes are the changes that also go on in the very depths of diseased
structure, in all the special senses, in all those higher instincts and
tastes that make man the best for self, for home, State and Nation--the
image of his Creator. Is this high estate ever reached through dosage?
Let this matter be again considered. In the days of the lancet, roots
and herbs, of bleedings and sweatings, of fevers without water for
parched tongues, throats, and stomachs, Nature had no part in the cure
of disease in the professional or lay mind, except in rare instances in
which there were those specially gifted with insight as well as
eyesight.
Now such barbarism was inflicted with intense force of conviction, and
it was patiently endured with the largest faith. When a mere child I was
a witness of the bleeding treatment upon my mother of saintly memory,
and my child hands carried into the back yard nearly a quart of blood
drawn for a bilious attack that lasted but a few days.
There is this to be taken into account in the dose treatment of
diseases--that most cases recover regardless of the time of treatment,
even whether it is the most crucifying or whether there is no dosing.
Therefore, the good effect of dosing is at best a matter of hazy
inference, where real evidence is not possible. The lack of uniformity
in the character and times of doses for similar diseases is a burlesque
on science. What would a text-book on chemistry be worth with nothing
more in the way of demonstrative evidence than we find in our materia
medica in the summing up of the "medical properties" of drugs.
In modern times homoeopathy has come in as a protest against the drawing
of blood and the administration of drugs that corrode. For a form of
skin disease sulphur has been given by the teaspoonful by my brethren of
the "regular" school; with equal faith, my brethren of the homoeopathic
school will give the fraction of a grain whose denominator will cross an
ordinary page: at which extreme is the science of dosage, if any; or
where between? I can hardly resist the conclusion that faith in dosage
is, by as much, inability for the deduction of science.
"I know whereof I believe," is the language of Science. "I believe," is
the language of credulity--with all the ways back to cause too hazy for
the perception of even the assuring guide-boards. Said that prince of
American humorists, Artemus Ward, "I have known a man who drank one
drink of whiskey every day, and yet lived to be one hundred years old;
but do not believe, therefore, that by taking two drinks a day you will
live to be two hundred years old." "I have known a man who had not a
single tooth, and yet he could play a bass drum better than any man I
ever knew;" but do not infer that the pulling of sound teeth will aid in
bringing out all the possibilities of harmony, melody, and delicacy of
tone of this particular instrument of song without words. I have seen a
man seemingly in perfect health at one hundred years old who had eaten
three meals a day; but may I infer that on four meals a day he would
have lived to be one hundred and thirty-three and a third years old? A
hundred times I have been told by physicians that they have had the best
results from certain drugs; but in not one instance was any reason for
their faith advanced.
If I am to be governed by impressions as to the utility of what I may do
for the sick, what is more impressive than to draw blood as they of old
did, with recovery in most cases? Have we reduced the mortality of
disease by a change in dosage? If so, how much, apart from the better
sanitary conditions of living and from those involved in the care of the
sick?
I can easily see or believe there is utility in clearing the digestive
tract at an early date in the case of severe sickness; I know that
stomach and bowels are as machines run by brain power; but beyond this
the materia medica is summed up in this way, "I dose my sick: they get
well: therefore my treatment is successful; or if they die, it is the
providence of God"--and with no thought that it may have been the
providence of bad treatment.
Men and brethren of the medical profession, you believe me a heretic in
all my professional modes, and only endure me because I do not carry
violent hands; but you would bar the sick-room from the bleeder of old.
I may attack the lancet, the herbs, the ground-roots, whose doses were
only as kindling-wood and sawdust a little more refined, and you will
say "Amen" with emphasis. "But we, we live in a more enlightened age:
our doses are more refined"--yes, but you administer them with the same
force of conviction as to their utility in the cure of disease, and with
little thought as to just why they are given and how they act.
It is my present conception that feeding the sick as now very generally
practised will be held, in a more enlightened age, as we now hold the
lancet of a darker age--a twin relic of barbarism; and there will be
only wonder that attempts were ever made to convert the lower bowel
into a temporary stomach _thirty feet away_.
How discriminating this deputy stomach that it selects the predigested
food-ration from its unutterable lower bowel involvements; sending it
pure and undefiled as ready-made flesh into the blood, only requiring it
to be placed as bricks to a wall. Fortunately, these lower stomachs are
not subject to nausea no matter how capable of otherwise rebelling, as
they so often do.
Predigested foods! If they nourish the sick, why not feed the well; why
not abolish our kitchens at an immense saving in the time, expense, and
worry of cooking, and live on them at an immense saving of the tax of
digestion and the indigestive processes? Brethren of the medical
profession, make haste to let the world know when you have found a case
in which you have made use of the lower bowel so to nourish the sick
body that it did not waste while the cure was going on.
THE FASTING-CURE.
XI.
NOTES AND PRESS COMMENTS ON VOLUNTARY FASTS.
The first voluntary protracted fast for the cure of chronic ailing to
reach the public prints as a matter of interesting news occurred in the
case of Mr. C. C. H. Cowan, of Warrensburg, Ill., early in 1899. He had
been on the two-meal plan for a time, and wishing for something more
radical wrote to me as to his entering upon a fast. I probably wrote him
as I now find it necessary to write all who feel that fasts are
necessary and cannot have my personal care, "Go on a fast and stick to
it until hunger comes or until your friends begin to suffer the pangs of
sympathetic starvation; then compromise with the sin of ignorance by
eating the least that will bring peace to their troubled souls."
The results were summed up by the _Morning-Herald Dispatch_, Decatur,
Ill., April 16, 1899:
"A few years ago Dr. Tanner, in New York City, fasted for forty
days and forty nights, and all the world wondered. Up to that
time the feat was considered impossible. From day to day the
papers told of his actions and his condition, and the entire
people became deeply interested in the performance. Medical men
and scientists became interested in the performance, and the
laity watched the faster through curiosity. Tanner's
accomplishment was considered marvellous by the medical
profession and laymen alike, but Dr. Tanner has long since been
a back number, and his performance is not now regarded as
remarkable, although there are not many persons who would care
to attempt the fast. Tanner was simply trying to prove that the
thing could be done. He did it, and within a year the man who
held the attention of the people of the country for forty days
was a visitor to this city. What Tanner did has been more than
accomplished by a Macon County man, but he went about his
undertaking quietly, and the fact that he was fasting was known
to only a few of his friends. The man is C. C. H. Cowan, of
Warrensburg, and for forty-two days and nights he abstained from
the use of food in solid or liquid form. He began his fast on
March 2 and broke it on the evening of April 13 at supper-time.
With the exception of the loss of thirty pounds of flesh, which
materially changed his personal appearance, Mr. Cowan shows no
ill-effects of his undertaking. When he began he weighed one
hundred and sixty-five pounds, and when he quit he weighed one
hundred and thirty-five pounds. Before his fast he was inclined
to be fleshy, and now, while still in fairly good flesh, his
clothing manifests a desire not to hold close communion with his
body. Mr. Cowan was in the city Saturday, and some of his
friends did not know him. He related his experience to some of
them, but he did this cautiously, and with the oft-expressed
hope that the papers would not devote any attention to the
affair, because he was not seeking and did not want notoriety.
At different times during his fast the _Herald-Dispatch_ has
referred to the fact in short items. Cowan is a disciple of a
Dr. Dewey, living at Meadville, Pa., who is an advocate of
fasting as a means of curing many of the ills to which the body
is heir. Dr. Dewey has many pamphlets touching the subject, and
has also written some books for his belief, and his reasons have
been made so plausible that a number of persons have coincided
with him. Cowan says the efficacy of the treatment has been
established in many instances, a fact that he can prove by ample
testimony. During his long abstinence from food he had numerous
letters and telegrams from Dr. Dewey, encouraging him in the
undertaking. When asked why he had fasted, Cowan explained that
for years he had suffered from chronic nasal and throat catarrh
which would not yield to medical treatment. His appetite was
splendid, and he ate many things that he really did not want. He
read Dr. Dewey's ideas, and became convinced that his system
needed general overhauling, and that this could be accomplished
through faithful adherence to the theory of Dr. Dewey. One of
these theories is to the effect that fasting rests the brain,
which is ofttimes overworked as a result of heavy feeding. It is
also supposed that the body throws off old mucous membrane of
the stomach and bowels, and that these are immediately
supplanted by new lining. Believing that he could get rid of his
catarrhal trouble and get the new lining referred to, Cowan
decided to fast, and without noise about the matter he
commenced, and up to Thursday evening he did not allow a bite of
food to pass his lips. The only thing that he took was water. Of
this he did not drink much, and he claims that he suffered no
pain or pangs of hunger. Looking at the matter now, it does not
seem to have been much of an accomplishment. After he once got
started he said it was an easy matter to carry out his plan
except for the worry of his family and some of his friends. They
thought that he was losing his mind and tried to induce him to
relinquish his idea, but he took some of them under his wing and
reasoned with them on the beauties of the treatment, expounded
the strong points, gave them reasons, showed them testimony of
others, and kept on fasting. When he began he had no idea that
he would continue for forty days; but as he progressed he had no
desire for food, and therefore did not desist. Thursday evening
he began to feel hungry, and that night he ate a reasonably good
supper. The return of hunger, according to his theories, was the
signal of the return of health. He feels confident that his
stomach has been relined, and for the present he knows that his
catarrh has left him. He is a firm believer in the new method of
curing bodily ailments, and says that during his fast he was
able to be around the village of Warrensburg every day, and was
able to perform his duties. His abstinence from food apparently
has not weakened his constitution. Since breaking his fast he
has partaken sparingly of food. Cowan's friends are very much
interested in the recital of his experience."
It so chanced that during this fast much more than his ordinary business
came to him, and without the least inability to perform it. I saw him
several months later, and found his physical condition seemingly
perfect. He had found out that for the best working conditions a nap at
noon was better than even a light luncheon, and that one meal a day
taken after his business was over was the best practice. This fast was
not in the right locality to excite the attention it deserved.
The second voluntary fast was destined to reach the ends of the earth
through the public prints. The following appeared in the _New York
Press_ of June 6, 1899:
"Twenty-eight days without nourishment and without letting up
for a moment on the daily routine of his business is the
unequalled record of Milton Rathbun, a hay and grain dealer at
No. 453 Fourth Avenue, and living in Mount Vernon. He is a man
of wealth, has many employes, and has been in the same business
in this city for thirty-nine years.
"He fasted because he wanted to reduce his weight, fearing that
its gradual increase might bring on apoplexy. He succeeded in
his efforts. He weighed two hundred and ten pounds when he
stopped eating; when he resumed he tipped the scales at one
hundred and sixty-eight pounds, a loss of forty-two pounds of
flesh.
"Mr. Rathbun's description of how he felt as the days and weeks
wore along and the pounds of avoirdupois slipped away one by one
is interesting. The remarkable point about it is that he
continued his work and kept well. He gave his account of it
yesterday to a reporter for _The Press_. Mr. Rathbun is known by
the business men for blocks around his own place of business,
and they all know of his fast.
"Every day his friends would come in and talk to him about it.
At first they told him he was foolish; that nobody could fast
that length of time, much less continue his work without
interruption. Then as the days went on and he kept up without a
break they began to be frightened.
"A crowd would gather about him every night at 6.30 o'clock,
when he would leave his office, for that was his hour for
weighing. Some days he would lose two or three pounds from the
weight of the day before; some days only one, but always
something. And as the record was scored up on the book each
night his friends would shake their heads and warn him to
beware.
"Finally, on the fifteenth day, his friends and employes got
together and made up their minds that something had to be done.
They were afraid that Rathbun would die. They appointed a
committee to wait on him in his office and beg him to eat
something. The committee took dainties to Mr. Rathbun, told him
their fears, and offered the good things to tempt him, but all
to no purpose.
"It was the night of April 23 that Mr. Rathbun took his last bit
of nourishment. He made no attempt to eat a large meal in
preparation for his fast. He ate his regular supply just as if
he had meant to continue eating on the following day. Then for
twenty-eight days he absolutely abjured all food. He drank
water, but that was all. Before going to bed he would take a
pint of Apollinaris.
"Had he remained at his home in bed or taken perfect rest, his
achievement would have been less remarkable. That is the course
which always has been adopted by the professional fasters. Dr.
Tanner, and the Italian, Succi, in their fasts were surrounded
by attendants who allowed them scarcely to lift a hand, so that
every ounce of energy might be conserved.
"Rathbun pursued a course diametrically opposite to this. He
worked, and worked hard. He came down earlier to his office and
went away later than usual. He made no effort to save himself.
On the contrary, he seemed determined to make his task as hard
as possible. On four of his fast days he spent the afternoons in
a dentist's chair, at which times his nerves were tried as only
dentists know how to do it.
"It was his idea to continue the fast until he began to feel
hunger. After the first twenty-four hours his hunger
disappeared, and he had no desire for food until the end of the
fourth week, when the craving set in, and he immediately set
about satisfying it in a moderate and careful manner. He
consulted two physicians while the fast was going on, to see that
he was suffering no injury that he could not appreciate himself.
One was Dr. F. B. Carpenter, of Madison Avenue and thirty-eight
Street, and the other, Dr. George J. Helmer, of Madison Avenue
and Thirty-first Street. He saw Dr. Carpenter on the eighteenth
and the twenty-first days, and Dr. Helmer on the twenty-fifth
day. Both expressed surprise at his long fast and astonishment at
his excellent condition.
"Mr. Rathbun is fifty-four years old, and five feet six inches
in height. He does not look more than forty years old, and he is
as active as a man of that age. He says he never felt better
than when he was fasting, and that he has experienced no bad
effects of any kind, while, on the other hand, he has reduced
his weight to a normal limit and removed all danger of apoplexy.
"He got the idea of the fast from the new theory exploited by
Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey, a practising physician of Meadville,
Pa., who recommends fasting as a cure for many ailments, and
advises all persons to go without breakfast and eat only two
meals a day.
"'I became intensely interested in this new system,' said Mr.
Rathbun yesterday, 'and I decided to put it to a practical test.
Dr. Dewey had said that he had many patients fasting all the way
from ten to thirty and forty days, and I concluded that if it
did them so much good it would be just the thing for me. So I
tried it.
"'On April 23 I ate my last meal, and from then until May 24 I
had absolutely nothing to eat. I drank water, of course, for
that is a matter of necessity. One cannot do without drink; but
I took no nourishment. For the first twenty-four hours I was
very hungry, and would have liked very much to take a square
meal; but I resisted the temptation, and after the expiration of
one day I had no desire to eat.
"'I had been in the habit of getting to my office about 8; now I
get there at 7. I generally had left at 5.30; I now stayed until
6.30. I had been in the habit of taking an hour or an hour and a
quarter for luncheon. The luncheon was now cut off, so I stayed
in the office and worked. I sat there at my desk and put in a
long, hard day's work, constantly writing.
"'At night I drank a bottle of Apollinaris, and went to bed at
8.30 and slept until 4 in the morning. I never enjoyed better
sleep than in those four weeks. And I was in excellent condition
as far as I could see in every other way. My mind was clear, my
eye was sharper than usually, and all the functions were in
excellent working order.
"'I had many amusing experiences. I went to a dentist on the
first day. I had some work requiring several hours' labor on the
part of the dentist. I said nothing to the doctor on the first
day. Four or five days afterward I kept a second appointment
with the dentist, and he asked me how the teeth worked which he
had fixed before. I said to him: "I haven't tried them yet."
"'You can imagine the look of surprise on his face. When I told
him that I was fasting, and had been since he had seen me
before, he showed the greatest concern, and said he did not
think I could go on with the dental work on account of the
weakness of my nerves. He solicited me to go out and have just a
bite of something. I refused, of course, and he continued the
work. I visited him on two days after that until he had finished
the work.
"'The men in my employ were greatly concerned about me, and
thought I would break down. I used to weigh every night before
leaving the office, and as they saw my constant wearing away
they became more and more frightened, and finally appointed a
committee to wait on me. The committee was headed by my manager,
who begged me to eat. He brought along some fine ripe cherries
to tempt me. I told him I would not eat them for one thousand
dollars, for I was interested thoroughly in the fast by that
time and would not have stopped.
"'After that they made no more attempts to stop the fast; but my
friends all shook their heads, and said that when I started in
to eat again I would find I was without a proper stomach.
"'On the twenty-eighth day the hunger began to come on again,
and I began to eat under the advice of Dr. Carpenter. On the
twenty-ninth day I drank a little bouillon, and afterward from
day to day increased the amount of food to the normal. I
suffered no inconvenience.'
"Mr. Rathbun says he is a firm believer in the no-breakfast
system of hygiene advocated by Dr. Dewey, and that neither
himself, his wife, nor any of the servants in his house eat
breakfast, and as a result all are remarkably well. His two
sons, one of whom was graduated at Harvard in 1896, and a
second, who is still at Harvard, practise the no-breakfast
system.
"Just before beginning his fast Mr. Rathbun ordered a suit of
clothes at his tailor's. He did not go for it until the end of
his long fast. Being something of a practical joker, besides a
man of great nerve, he walked into the tailor-shop and let the
tailor try his new suit on to see if it was all right.
"When he slipped on the coat the tailor stood aghast. There was
apparently the same man he had measured twenty-eight days
previously standing before him in perfect health, but as to
dimensions not at all the same man.
"'It doesn't fit any part of you,' said the tailor, after the
suit had been tried on. In the tailor's book Rathbun's
measurement was entered: 'Forty-three inches around the waist
and forty-two around the chest.' When he went for his suit his
measurements were thirty-eight around the waist and thirty-eight
around the chest.
"Dr. Dewey's theory, which led Rathbun to make his long fast, is
that the brain is the centre of every mind and muscle energy, a
sort of self-charging dynamo, with the heart, lungs, and all the
other parts only as so many machines to be run by it; that the
brain has the power of feeding itself on the less important
parts of the body without loss of its own structure, and that as
the operation of digestion is a tax on the brain, a long period
of fasting gives the brain a rest, by which means the brain is
able to build itself up, which means the upbuilding of the whole
body.
"In this way, it is asserted, the alcohol habit is cured and
other diseases eradicated.
"Dr. F. B. Carpenter said yesterday to a reporter for _The
Press_ that he had not recommended Mr. Rathbun to take the fast,
but had advised him while it was going on and after it was over.
The doctor said he was inclined to believe there might be
something in the no-breakfast system, as a great many persons
eat and drink altogether too much.
"Dr. Helmer said he had examined Rathbun on the twenty-fifth
day, and had found him in surprisingly good condition."
Mr. Rathbun had been on the no-breakfast plan for several years, and he
was one of the first to write me after my book came out. It was not
without reason he feared apoplexy, for Ex-Gov. Flower, an over-weighted
man, had gone down to instant death though seemingly in perfect health
and in the prime of business energy and mental capacity. During his fast
my only trouble with him was in his drinking so much water without
thirst, thus greatly and needlessly adding to the work of the kidneys.