33° POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



HOW SHALL THE DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES OF 

 MODEKN LIFE BE MET AND OVERCOME? 



By RICHARD COLE NEWTON, M.D. 



VTTHEN Bichat referred to civilization as 'nothing more than the 

 » » environment which tends to destroy humankind/ he had in 

 mind, presumably, the so-called civilization of his own time, which we 

 are willing to concede was considerably below that of to-day in every 

 respect and far below that of the Greeks and Romans. To illustrate 

 the superior efficiency of what we may call a natural method of treat- 

 ing diseases over the highly artificial and fanciful methods which pre- 

 vailed long after Bichat's time, an extract from Higgins's ' Humani- 

 culture ' may be paraphrased as follows : It is a matter of record that 

 Augustus Caesar recovered his health after the expedition into Spain, 

 when suffering from an attack of illness, said to have been due to an 

 inflammation of the liver, by a treatment of baths and an exclusively 

 vegetable diet; whereas, Louis XIV. of France, living 1,600 years 

 later, " in the short space of one year took 215 different medicines, 212 

 enemata and was bled no less than 47 times." Here is a striking 

 example of progression backwards. As Dr. Higgins sententiously 

 remarks, " A kindly historian would surely take such adverse circum- 

 stances into consideration when he gave his judicial opinion on the 

 acts of such unfortunate monarchs." 



There are still those who seem to believe that every disease has its 

 appropriate and efficient remedy: a dogma long ago exploded. The 

 only certain remedy for any disease is a man's own vital power. If 

 the body is strong enough and well-nourished enough it will throw 

 off the diseased condition. Drugs, outward applications, mental or 

 spiritual influences, baths, regulation of the diet, ventilation and tem- 

 perature may be of such efficient and timely aid as to turn the tide of 

 battle from defeat to victory and may help nature to triumph. They, 

 however, are only adjuncts. The natural inherent power of the body 

 itself is the sine qua non, the absolute essential; without which all 

 therapeutic measures whatever will prove unavailing. 



Admitting then that this condition of bodily vigor is necessary be- 

 fore we can recover from sickness, or can withstand a severe injury, 

 or shock, is it not possible to so train and develop the body that it 

 will be practically non-susceptible to illness and not only that, but so 

 that it will be far more efficient and enduring for all of life's work 

 than the non-trained or improperly developed body? There can be 

 only one answer to this question. 



