WATER. 723 
the enlargement. In 1809, Dr. Lambe contended that “ common 
water ”’ is the chief vehicle by which cancerous disease invades 
the body, because of the putrescent, and inflammable matters 
always present more or less in such “common water.” Also, 
said Dr. Lambe, “‘ for the mitigation of cancer, a strictly vegetable 
diet must be joined to the use of water purified by distillation. 
Under this combined regimen life may probably be prolonged 
to an indefinite extent, even in certain cases of ulcerating cancer, 
which is of long standing. The spread of cancerous disease into 
contiguous parts is completely prevented by the sole use of pure 
distilled water for drinking.” 
It is told pathetically that George Washington, the father of 
his country, was literally bled to death. The doctors in attend- 
ance on him, after repeated and copious venesection, resolved 
nevertheless to bleed him once more, and the great President 
died within a few minutes after the operation. With his last 
breath his pitiful cry was “‘ Water! water! oh, give me water!” 
but this was denied him. “ Plentiful water drinking,” wrote 
Dr. King Chambers, “is to be advised for persons who labour 
under Bright’s disease (albuminuria), where the smaller excretive 
blood-vessels of the kidneys are stiff, and blocked, and obstructed 
with thickening of their coats ; hence they fail to carry on their 
blood into the kidneys to be purified, and thus the blood becomes 
fouled with the retained urea, and fails to be properly oxygenated, 
so that its red particles are deficient. Moreover, an exudation 
of the thinner—serous—part of the blood takes place into the 
open central chambers of the kidneys ; and in order to wash these 
and other effete matters away, a plentiful use of aqueous drinks 
should be employed, which will flow out through the said organs. 
This will by no means increase a tendency to dropsy, but will 
rather obviate it; in point of fact, the only safe and thoroughly 
reliable diuretic for the relief of albuminous dropsy is water, 
and it is a most likely preventive of any such complication. As 
nourishment under the dilemma now described, whey (being free 
from casein proteid) is a very appropriate form of nourishment. 
For any acute congestion, or inflammation of the kidneys, 
a diet almost exclusively of skimmed milk, or of diluted milk, 
will be essential, whilst the patient is kept warm in bed under 
woollen clothing, and abstaining almost, if not altogether, from 
animal food, even as broth, or soup. The restriction to milk 
diet should be maintained far into convalescence, so as to avoid 
