It appears opportune at this juncture, and before entering upon the
detailed description of the modern healing system of Vinegar Packs,
included in the prescribed course of Physical Treatments which follow,
to make a few rational remarks illustrative of the physical significance
and scientific basis of a branch of therapy which largely amongst the
laity, through ignorance, and more so amongst the regular medical
fraternity, for reasons of their own, is too frequently lightly regarded
by the one and diplomatically depreciated by the other.
In this manner one of the most potent and logical modern factors in the
healing of disease would be conveniently consigned to the back ground in
company with other simple _but unremunerative_ truths, but for the
timely intervention of the new and enlightened school of independent
medicine of which the Biological or Hygienic Dietetic Method of Healing
is the outcome.
The wonderful efficacy of natural Vinegar upon the organism and its
employment in the form of Vinegar Packs and compresses dates back
probably to the early traditions of the healing art, but scientific
analysis of its subtle operation upon the system through the vital fluid
has been left for the scientific research of today to determine.
To those of the public--or the profession--therefore, who are not
conversant with the subject the following notes may be valuable as
descriptive of the why and wherefore of the use of Vinegar.
It will be admitted, I think, that one of the most prolific sources of
disease, in innumerable forms, is that of congestion of blood. The
greatest danger of such congestion is inflammation. Should inflammation
occur in or near a vital organ and fail to be promptly reduced and its
cause (coagulation) removed, the result is decomposition--and
decomposition, if not arrested means death.
The most valuable--I might almost say infallible--remedy known, even to
the greatest accepted authorities of physiology, for the prevention of
inflammation is acetic acid in diluted form, or, in a word, Vinegar, as
a restorer of the fluidity of the blood.
Inflammation is the result of coagulation of the blood-albumen;
congestion is its sequal, inflammation and decomposition of the tissues
its climax. The last is nearly always fatal.
_The manifest object therefore to be achieved in all such cases is to
restore the normal fluidity and circulation of the blood_ without unduly
taxing any vital organ. Thus, for instance, hot packs on the feet draw
the blood towards the feet, where no vital organs exist. Hot packs act
as an absorbent, by suction; cold packs, on the affected place, act in
inverse ratio as an expelling force. The two operating conjointly
promote full circulation and extend the absorbing tendency to the whole
system.
Ice, on the other hand, though not infrequently prescribed, is too
strong a force. It contracts the blood vessels, arrests normal
circulation, and in many cases is the direct cause of death. This is
attested by the teaching of physiological law which maintains that any
part of the human system which is not fed by fresh oxygenous blood
_must decompose_.
Packs, of course, must be regulated in accordance with the vital
strength of the patient, as indicated by the physician; for in the
course of the excretion of morbid matter through the pores, under the
influence of the packs, a certain proportion of accompanying healthy
substance is necessarily exuded simultaneously, with a slightly
weakening tendency. This however can be promptly and effectively
replaced by proper alimentation, or food selection in accordance with
the Dech-Manna Diet System already particularized.
One other matter it is advisable to deal with in advance and that is the
_Nature of the Vinegar to be employed for Packs_.
It must be borne in mind that for this purpose an absolutely pure
natural product should be obtained.
I recommend, in the first place a genuine _Apple Cider Vinegar_; for
apples not alone contain the pure acetic acid but also some five or six
other fruit acids which are so beneficial for the purpose of keeping the
blood at normal temperature and normal fluidity, and contain also a
considerable amount of the essentials known under the head of
vitamines.
As a secondary alternative I would recommend _Wine Vinegar_ for the same
purpose.
The manufacturers vinegar product--_Acetic acid, should never the used_
as it contains, very frequently, harmful ingredients.
It should never be forgotten that the substances used for the purpose of
packs, and thus absorbed into the system, become a part of the blood and
therefore cannot be too pure.
The reader will doubtless observe from the foregoing demonstration that
the Dechmann System of Therapy differs materially from the science of
the Old-School of Medicine in that it is not based upon evanescent
theories of hairsplitting philosophy but upon the solid basis of
cold-blooded fact.
Why then, the reader will inquire, should so wonderful and at the same
time _simple, inexpensive and easily applied remedy_ be treated by "the
faculty" with an affectation of indulgent toleration, ridicule or
"damning with faint praise."
To this riddle there are two solutions--neither of them very creditable
to those concerned.
On the one hand, only crass ignorance of some of the most important
facts of physiology and physiological chemistry could account for it.
And, it must be borne in mind that in the course of the prolific
verbosity of pontificated dogma which has graced the scroll of medical
science, whole libraries have been written--and ably written, too--by
skillful pens for the sole purpose of covering the simple nudity of the
agnostic position of science--the dreaded, confidence-shattering
admission: "I don't know."
Failing this solution there is, unfortunately, but one alternative and
that a singularly distasteful one to entertain; namely, to attribute the
unpopularity of this splendid gift of Nature to unprofessional
considerations on the part of an apothecary-loving profession.
The employment of vinegar is, as I have said, a royal remedy, ready to
the hand of any man and at little or no expense, and it needs no
"learned" interpretation.