1891 



GLEAXTXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



183 



A. NEW METHOD OF TREATING DISEASE 

 WITHOUT MEDICINE. 



WATEK CURE APPLIED INTERNALLY A!- 

 WELL AS EXTERNALLY. 



Wassh ye. make you clean.— Isa. 1: 16. 



With the present amount of interest in 

 this matter of internal bathing, or the use 

 of the '' drugless remedy," as it has been 

 termed. I feel as if I could no longer keep 

 still consistently ; and even though the 

 subject 1 take up may seem to some an in- 

 delicate one, when we take into considera- 

 tion the amount of human suffering that 

 may be relieved by it I think we are excus- 

 able for talking plainly, and even using very 

 plain terms, in print. In Titus. 15th verse 

 of the first chapter, we read, " Unto the 

 pure, all things are pure ; but unto them 

 that are detiied and unbelieving is nothing 

 pure ; but even their mind and conscience 

 is detiled.'' 



One reason why I feel moved to take the 

 matter up to-drt,y,'and make it as plain as I 

 know how, is that so many are, at the pres- 

 ent time, maMng capital of selling one of the 

 uses of pure water, to their fellow-men, as a 

 secret, as if it were right or proper to receive 

 money for telling Ihow to make use of God's 

 gifts, such as pure water, sunshine, pure 

 air, etc. It seems sad to me that at least a 

 por^ of the world should beistnmbled over 

 such a simple matter, or should imagine it 

 right to keep from our neighbors a knowl- 

 edge of a plain, simple ylan of removing 

 suffering by the use of water ; yes. water, 

 and nothing else. 'If any one should feel 

 like questioning my authority or my moral 

 right to make this secret free and public 

 property, I will quote, at the outset, from a 

 little book .published by Fowler & Wells in 

 1S47. 



The book"; referred^to is " The Water-cure 

 Manual," by Joel Shew. M. D.. copyrighted 

 in 1S47, printed by FoioUr d- Wells in 1850. 

 Speaking of these injections Dr. Shew 

 writes : 



•' They may be repeated again and again, 

 n as great quantity as desired. ... A 

 good mode,too,"is to take a small injection, a 

 tumblerful, more or less, that is retained 

 permanently, without a movement before 

 morning. This is very soothing to the nerv- 

 ous system ; aids in securing sound sleep, 

 and, by its absorption in the coats of the 

 bowels, dilutes acrid matters therein, toni- 

 fying and strengthening likewise those 

 parts, and aiding materially in bringing 

 about natural movements." 



After naming various diseases for which 

 this remedy is invaluable, he says : 



•' This statement will cause sneering, I 

 know ; but it is no fancy sketch. The 

 thorough washing out, so to say, of the low- 

 er bowels, by which the peristaltic, or down- 

 ward, action of the whole ^alimentary canal, 

 is promoted, and by the absorption or trans- 

 udation of water its contents are moistened 

 and diluted, and the whole' of the abdomi- 

 nal circulation is completely suffused by 

 that blandest and most soothing of all flu- 

 ids, pure'water. Whoever understands well 

 the sympathies and tendencies of these 



parts of the human system will at once per- 

 ceive the truth of what I affirm."' 



The above, you will notice, contains the 

 whole of the secret— or, at least, so much of 

 it that no reasonable individual can pre- 

 tend to call it new. or a real discovery of the 

 last few years. Uur older readers will re- 

 member vividly the time when Fowler «!c 

 Wells created such an excitement through- 

 out the world by what they accomplished by 

 the use of water and nothing else — water 

 used hot or cold as the occasion demanded, 

 or lukewarm. Vapor baths also was anoth- 

 er form of using hot water. While, per- 

 haps, all the claims made fifty years ago 

 have not been fully realized, yet f feel sure 

 the world has been made better as well as 

 cleaner ever since this water-cure excite- 

 ment. At different times the use of water 

 in large quantities, taken into the system 

 by way of the mouth, has had its advocates. 

 Dr. Salisbury for many years has been ac- 

 complishing a good deal by ''feeding" his 

 patients on hot water. We have all seen pain- 

 ful sprains and bruises cured almost as if 

 by magic by the use of water as hot as the 

 patient can bear it. It you want to get out 

 acorn, first soak your foot in hot water ; 

 and many surgical operations can be per- 

 formed with comparative ease where hot 

 water in sufficient quantity applied for a 

 sufficient length of time is used to relax the 

 muscles and to soften the skin and flesh. 

 Physicians have for ages (for aught I know) 

 used water, both hot and cold, in the form 

 of injections; and the wonder is. at the 

 present time, that they have been working 

 so close to a great discovery, as it has been 

 called, without realizing the wonderful 

 things to be accomplished right along in 

 that line. Perhaps my good brethren of the 

 medical fraternity feel like smiling a little 

 at this last remark of mine. Well, smile if 

 you like, my good friends ; in fact, I rather 

 think you had better smile, for a world of 

 suffering people are beginnim; to smile 

 right along on this line, and we are going to 

 smile and have more vigor and energy to 

 thank God for this new gift. 



As near as I can make out, the discovery 

 consists in using more water — perhaps hot- 

 ter water in some cases — and using it for a 

 greater length of time. If we wish to wash 

 a jug, it is an easy matter to make the out- 

 side very clean. We can use hot water, 

 soap, and ashps, if need be. We can rub 

 and scour dirtv spots ; viQ can use a brush 

 and a cloth, and some sand, if need be, but 

 not so with tlie inside. You can pour in 

 hot water and pour it out again. You can 

 put in soap and ashes, and shake the jug 

 vigorously, and you can put in water again 

 and again, until" you judge by what comes 

 out that it is clean enough to be used for 

 food. Well, this matter of internal bathing 

 is a good deal as it is with the jug. We 

 want lots of water ; and in order to perform 

 its office thoroughly, it may be necessary to 

 let this water remain for some time, just as 

 we let it remain for some time in the jug, 

 that it may soak up and loosen accumula- 

 tions on the sides, where no man can see. 

 After this soaking-up process, a vigorous 

 shaking will probably do much to remove 



