THE REMEDIES OF NATURE. 307 



necessitous system has no strength to spare for such purposes as an 

 effort of the motive organs. But nine out of ten dyspeptics resort to 

 the drug-store. They get a bottle of "tonic bitters." They try Dr. 

 Quack's " Dyspepsia Elixir."' They try a " blue pill " in the hope of 

 rousing Nature, as it were, to a sense of her proper duty. 



Now, what such " tonics " can really do for them is this : they 

 goad the system into the transient and abnormal activity incident to 

 the necessity of expelling a virulent poison. With the accomplish- 

 ment of that purpose the exertion ceases, and the ensuing exhaustion 

 is worse than the first by just as much as the poison-fever has robbed 

 the system of a larger or smaller share of its little remaining strength. 

 The stimulant has wasted the organic energy which it seemed to re- 

 vive. " But," says the invalid, " if a repetition of the dose can relieve 

 the second reaction, would the result not be preferable to the languor 

 of the unstimulated system ? Wouldn't it be the best plan to let me 

 support my strength by sticking to my patent tonic ? " 



Yes, it would be very convenient, especially in times of scarcity, if 

 a starving horse could be supported by the daily application of a patent 

 spur. It would save both oats and oaths. Even a fastidious nag could 

 not help acknowledging the pungency of the goad. But it so hap- 

 pens that spur-fed horses are somewhat short-lived, though at first 

 the diet certainly seems to act like a charm. For a day or two the 

 drug stimulates the activity of the digestive organs as well as of 

 the mental faculties, but the subsequent prostration is so intolerable 

 that the patient soon chooses the alternative of another poison-fever. 

 Before long the pleasant phase of the febrile process becomes shorter 

 and the reaction more severe ; the jaded system is less able to respond 

 to the goad, and, in order to make up for the difference, the dose of 

 the stimulant has to be steadily increased. The invalid becomes a 

 bondsman to the drug-store, and hugs the chain that drags him down 

 to the slavery of a confirmed poison-habit. 



Circumstances may differ. A dyspeptic who intends to make his 

 own quietus within a month or two, and in the mean while has a certain 

 amount of work to finish, would be justified in stimulating his working 

 capacities by all means, in order to improve to the utmost whatever 

 chances of mundane activity may remain to him. But he who intends 

 to stay has to make up his mind that recovery can not be hoped for 

 till he has not only discontinued his drug, but expiated the burden of 

 sin which the stimulant outrage has added to the original cause of the 

 disease. Nature has to overcome the effects both of malnutrition and 

 of malpractice. The drug has complicated the disease. 



In childhood chronic dyspepsia is nearly always the effect of chronic 

 medication. Indigestion is not an hereditary complaint. A dietetic 

 sin per excessum, a quantitative surfeit with sweetmeats and pastry, 

 may derange the digestive process for a few hours or so, but the 

 trouble passes by with the holiday. Lock up the short-cakes, admin- 



