PATHOGENESIS 327 



rheumatic kind, including lumbago, mild joint rheumatism, and syno- 

 vitis ; the latter is the common condition of swelling and effusion (water) 

 which occurs round joints and ligaments that have been bruised or 

 sprained. Remarkable results are reported in the cure of these condi- 

 tions from the use of hot fomentations or poultices made with potato 

 juice, as well as of cold plasters made from the same substance. It is 

 notable that amongst the successes recorded is a case that was treated 

 at St. George's Hospital under a well-known surgeon. In this example 

 the patient, who had been suffering from water on the knee for some 

 five weeks, was cured in less than a fortnight. For lumbago and rheu- 

 matism it is recommended that potato juice ointment should be rubbed 

 well in the painful parts, whilst the treatment may further be aided 

 by the special plasters. For severe bruises and sprains it is advised 

 that the hot poultices referred to above should be first resorted to, when 

 it may be expected that the pain will quickly be relieved, and the 

 swelling go down. The treatment has also apparently some application 

 in gout, although its chief advocate does not claim it as a direct cure 

 for this malady. In gout it would appear that potato juice applied 

 in the right manner will quickly relieve pain and swelling, although 

 it may not be able to relieve the general constitutional symptoms. In 

 the article referred to seven cases of acute gout are recorded in which 

 the remedy was applied with success. Daily Telegraph, 2/5/14. 



It is also remarkable in this connection that the Bedouin 

 and other tribes of the desert who keep a sound vitality on a 

 frugal diet of dates, figs, semolina and olive oil, seem imper- 

 vious to pain, and regard the use of an anaesthetic with contempt. 



Anaesthetics, as we have seen, are calculated to suppress 

 the natural and wholesome eliminative efforts of the body; if, 

 therefore, a frugal diet free from in-feeding renders their 

 use unnecessary, such a diet must not only be superior in 

 preventing disease, but it must be an additional safeguard of 

 an undiminished vitality a prevention against pathogenesis. 



Very important admissions supporting my general thesis 

 concerning the cause and the general course of disease occur 

 in the chapter on "General Anaphylaxis." 



Apparently there is some secondary process, peculiar to anaphy- 

 lactised organisms and entirely absent in non-anaphylactised organisms, 

 which only develops in anaphylactised animals after a long delay, as if 

 chemical reactions took place within them more slowly and were in any 

 case of a different nature from those which occur in non-anaphylactised 

 animals. 



