1890 



GLExiNINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



421 



TREATING DISEASE WITHOUT 

 MEDICINE. 



A REVIVAL OF ONE LINE OF THE OLD WATER 

 CURE. 



I SINCERELY hope that my friends of the 

 medical fraternity will not think that I am 

 trespassing on their domain ; in fact, I look 

 for and beg their assistance and indorse- 

 ment, that we may fight down frauds and 

 swindles as a common enemy to mankind. 

 Almost everybody knows more or less about 

 the water-cure that made such a stir in re- 

 gard to the treatment of disease perhaps S-") 

 or 40 years ago. Water-cure establishments 

 were plentiful in almost every locality then, 

 and people went about to give lectures, and 

 proposed to cure all diseases by water alone. 

 Pure water was called the obvious natural 

 remedy furnished by the great Creator to 

 his creatures ; and, like the advocates of 

 electricity a little later, they loudly claimed 

 that it was all-sufficient for every disease 

 that flesh is heir to. Some of us smile now 

 as we remember how these things had their 

 day, and finally passed away. Water cure, 

 however, has not entirely passed away. 

 When you send for your family physician, 

 nine times out of ten he will call for some 

 hot water— a dipperful, a pailful, or perhaps 

 a tubful ; and if you just look back you will 

 remember that the patient usually got bet- 

 ter right away, when the physician decided 

 that the water was what was needed. I 

 once fell from a building and hurt my 

 ankle. The pain was so intense that I 

 groaned aloud (if it had been a woman, per- 

 haps she would have kept still ; you know 

 how it is when a man is in pain). A doctor 

 was soon procured, and I begged him to 

 give me something— brandy or chloroform. 

 He said he guessed all I needed was a little 

 hot water. He put his hand into it, and 

 said he guessed that would do, and told me 

 to put my foot in it, even if it did come 

 pretty near scalding. I thought at first I 

 could not bear the water because it was so 

 hot ; but finally I got it down so the water 

 covered the swollen ankle. The pain eased 

 up as if by magic, and I have oftentimes 

 wondered if it were possible that so simple 

 a remedy could do so much. AV hen you are 

 so tired and worn out that you feel as if you 

 could hardly put one step before the other, 

 a bath in pretty hot water will set you up 

 bright and vigorous. You are perhaps all 

 well aware of this. A great many times we 

 suffer because of the lack of socq) and water. 

 Perhaps some of you would resent such a 

 charge ; but, hold on a little. A woman 

 was once deaf, and had been so for years. 

 A traveling lecturer on physiology, by 

 means of soap and water, and a proper syr- 

 inge, washed out the accumulations of the 

 ear so that she heard again as well as she 

 ever did. This was accomplished in less 

 than an hour. AVater applied in the proper 

 way sometimes performs wondrous cures in 

 washing out the accumulations between the 

 nostril and the ear. AVe all know what wa- 

 ter will do for the feet when sore, or when 

 treating them for corns. At some of our 

 sanitariums they give relief by bathing, ac- 

 companied by rubbing and kneading the 



body. One of the most prominent physi- 

 cians of the United States has of late ac- 

 complished great things by giving his pa- 

 tients hot water to drink. You may smile 

 at this. Why should anybody need a doc- 

 tor to administer drinks of hot water ? 

 AVell, I do not know. They claim to have 

 received great relief from swallowing hot 

 water in large quantities. And now we 

 come to the point that has prompted this ar- 

 ticle. 



If water performs such wondrous cures 

 externally, or when introduced into the ear 

 and nostril, or other organs of the body, 

 why may not great benefit accrue from a 

 thorough washing and cleansing of the di- 

 gestive apparatus ? When you come to 

 think of it, I presume you will be ready to 

 say at once, " Why, sure enough ! '" and I 

 believe that is just what our physicians 

 have been doing more or less for ages past. 

 Have you ever felt, my friend, as if you 

 would give a good sum of money to be able 

 to wash out your " insides " as thoroughly 

 as you can your "outsides '" ? I have felt 

 just that way a good many times, and have 

 thought of the method in common use for 

 doing it ; yet it seemed to be a good deal of 

 a medical operation, and I always supposed 

 it must be done by the aid and advice of a 

 physician. When we want to cleanse a jug 

 we can cleanse the outside very easily, be- 

 cause it is in plain sight. If we want to 

 cleanse the inside, however, the best we can 

 do is to put in some water, and shake it 

 about thoroughly. This we can keep doing 

 until the water we pour out is as clean as 

 when it was put in. Then we pronounce 

 the jug clean. If we want to clean a barrel, 

 we do the same thing ; and by giving a bar- 

 rel a vigorous tumbling about, we can se- 

 cure a pretty thorough rinsing ; and this is 

 what Dr. Hall claims as his great discovery ; 

 and yet it is not a discovery, nor is it new 

 at ail. See the following, which I copy 

 from the first doctor book I pick up : 



"Water about blood-warm should be used when 

 the purpose is to relieve constipation, and a con- 

 siderable quantity — one to three pints, or more — 

 may be used. The water should be retained for a 

 few minutes, while the bowels are kneaded and 

 shaken." 



The kneading and rubbing of the body 

 amounts to exactly the same thing as shak- 

 ing the jug or barrel, that the hot water 

 may effectually dissolve away all accumula- 

 tions. 



And, by the way, I think I will copy the 

 entire paragraph on this subject. It comes 

 from Dr. Kellogg's '' national Medicine,'' 

 under the head of " Rational Remedies for 

 Disease." More than 100 pages are devoted 

 to the use of water in the treatment of dis- 

 ease. AVe have eye-baths, ear-baths, sitz- 

 baths, foot-baths, wet sheet, vapor bath, 

 etc. Here is the paragraph in question : 



ENEMA. 



Feeal accumulations in the lower bowd are more 

 quickly and easily removed by an enema of warm 

 water than by any purg-ative, laxative, or cathartic 

 ever discovered or invented; and the use of this 

 remedy is never accompanied with the unpleasant 

 and jjainful Kripinjr and tenesmus which often ac- 

 companv the use of cathartics. The administration 

 is a trifle more troublesome, but the results are 

 enough superior to more than repay the incon- 

 venience. The syphon syringe is far preferable to 



