AUGUST 1, 1912 



497 



bappeii alter Ibey have taken some patent 

 medicine, or "treatment" of some sort they 

 jump to the conclusion that it was tlie 

 senseless toy that conferred the benefit, and 

 hence these testimonials — that is. testimo- 

 nials that are not really manufactured. 

 Years ago electropoise, oxydonor, etc., 

 claimed to have '"testimonials" from one 

 hundred ministers. The thing has gone 

 down and out of sight several times, only 

 to be resurrected (perhaps under a new 

 name) by some conscienceless rascal or set 

 of rascals. 



SOMETHING ABOUT DR. TANNER; FASTING AS 



WELL AS BEE-STINGS AS A CURE 



FOR RHEUMATISM. 



Mr. A. I. Root: — In Gleanings for Feb. 1 a 

 correspondent asks about stings as a cure for rheu- 

 matism, and says he is "ready for something hero- 

 ic." As you always have a corner for unfortunates 

 in Home talks, perhaps you will publish the en- 

 closed for his benefit, as well as for others who may 

 be afflicted. 



Dr. Tanner was lecturing in 1903 on the bene- 

 fits of a vegetarian diet, which he advocated. One 

 lecture was " The Story of the Fast," delivered in 

 Blanchard Hall, Los Angeles, California. I wish I 

 could give the whole of that most interesting and 

 amusing story. Young people, and even the middle- 

 aged, are strangely ignorant of this feat that once 

 filled the civilized world with wonder. They even 

 say coolly that it was not proved he ate nothing in 

 all that time. There are a few left who know. Per- 

 haps you could tell us more about the doctor. 



The following is condensed from a lecture by Dr. 

 Tanner : 



The doctor was practicing in a town in Ohio 

 about 1870. He was disabled by rheumatism in 

 1875. Then he went to Minnesota, where he had a 

 friend who was also a physician. This man told 

 him that his heart was in a very bad shape — it 

 might stop beating at any moment. He had pain 

 in the region of the heart — could not lie down. 



Tanner went home, very much cast down by his 

 sentence. He sat down in his chair, and naid no 

 heed to any thing. He was not ready to die. He 

 had no thought of food. At the end of five days he 

 accidentally discovered that he could lie down. 



The thought came instantly that improvement 

 came from fasting. He then fasted six days more. 

 He felt better, and went to see his doctor, who was 

 very much astonished. "Why, man," said he, "you 

 are cured. Your heart is all riglit. What have you 

 done?" The cure astonished him stiU more. Said 

 he, "Ten days is the limit. You have fasted eleven 

 days." 



But Dr. Tanner thought the cure might not be 

 permanent. He went home, staying alone in his 

 rooms, and went on fasting, until it was forty-two 

 dai/s. 



He went again to see his doctor, and told him. 

 The amazed man was for doing something immedi- 

 ately. "This," said he, "must be sent to the medical 

 journal." 



"No," said Dr. Tanner, "you must not publish 

 that. People would not believe it." 



The friend respected his wish, but told another 

 doctor, who, without permission, published the case 

 in a medical .iournal. 



"Then," said Tanner. "I was made to suffer. 

 I was told even to my face that I had lied." (He 

 was then selling real estate in Minnesota). "My 

 customers left me, and church members turned their 

 faces away." But there was one consolation. "I 

 have never had rheumatism since." said the doctor. 



A year or two later (in 1877 > a New York paper 

 came out with a story of a young lady who, in a 

 trance state, had fasted several weeks. (I can not 

 recall how long. Doctors discussed the subject 

 many sa-ing it could not be true. Dr. Tanner of- 

 fered to con\e to New York and fast, under surveil- 

 lance, forty days, for one thousand dollars This 

 was offered by Dr. Hauiilton at tlie Medical College 



After a while it was arranged, and Dr. Tanner went 

 to .New \ork and made his famous fast. 



Louise S. Z. Bemis. 

 Cattaraugus, N. Y., Feb. 8. 



My good friend, Dr. Tanner, was a Medi- 

 na Co. boy, and he was back to his Medina 

 home several times before he died. There 

 is no question in regard to the authenticity 

 of his statements, and I believe he really 

 loas the first man living to demonstrate that 

 some ijeople can actually live " forty days" 

 without food. Since then many j^eople have 

 taken it up, and, I think, generally with 

 benefit, although a very few who are, per- 

 hajDS, not fitted for such experiments, have 

 been injured by fasting. I believe one per- 

 son lost his life that way. In our back num- 

 bers there have been many rejiorts in re- 

 gard to it. Upton Sinclair is at present, or 

 at least was until quite recently, the strong- 

 est exponent and defender. The periodical 

 Good Health for May condemns it in the 

 strongest terms. But they may be exti'eme 

 in this as well as in some other things. I 

 have frequently gone without food for 24 

 liours, and I am ready to do it again when 

 nature seems to demand it. I have not yet 

 tried a longer fast. I have not a doubt 

 that it would cure rheumatism and, in fact, 

 almost anything else, if the i^atient has the 

 grit and backbone to avoid declaring "the 

 remedy worse than the disease." 



BETTER THAN FINDING A GOLD-MINE. 



We take pleasure in giving place to 

 the following, clipped from the Practical 

 Farmer, inasmuch as it comes from a bee- 

 keeper and a reader of Gleanings : 



IF YOU ARE NOT ENTIRELY WELL, PLEASE READ 

 THIS. 



A certain doctor said to the writer: "Terry, why 

 do you confine yourself so closely to your study and 

 work so hard? You don't need to; you have prop- 

 erty enough. Why not make your life easier now?" 

 My good friends, do you want to know why I do not 

 follow his advice? Then please read the following 

 letter. What is my pleasure, or my little life, 

 worth by the side of being helpful in thousands of 

 homes scattered all over America ? This is from 

 Joseph H. Peterson, Ogden, Utah: "I am a beekeep- 

 er, and received your book about 18 months ago as 

 a premium with Gleanings. Then I subscribed for 

 The Practical Farmer. To me this was better than 

 finding a gold-mine. I am 34 years of age, and had 

 suffered for years with chronic constipation and 

 attendant ills, such as stomach trouble, piles, and 

 countless ^vretched headaches. I ran the course of 

 pills and la.xatives, and was taking regularly two in- 

 jections daily when I got your book. And even if 

 the doctor did tell me I would have to take physic 

 the rest of my life, I now have two and three nat- 

 ural bowel movements daily. Of course, my other 

 ills are going too. Even my threatened baldness is 

 being frustrated since I learned how to live. I am 

 happy to be on the highway of health again. The 

 sun shines brighter, the birds sing sweeter, and my 

 blighted hopes are budding out again, as does ail 

 nature at the return of spring. I was ill in body, 

 dejected in spirits, and, while I had not lost hope, I 

 was fast letting go my hold on the things and ambi- 

 tions of life. But I thank you for makiii" plain the 

 simple laws of health, for now I can renew my 

 hopes and ambitions and feel again the vigor of 

 .you'll and sing with a thankful heart, "Praise God, 

 from whom all Ijlessings flow." No living man 



