OBSTRUCTION OF THE BOWELS. 427 



with a physician." We have heard of cases in which a too close addiction to 

 " Bantingism " has been followed by very unfavourable results. 



With obesity, as with most other things, prevention is better than cure. It will 

 be found in the great majority of cases that if a man increases much in weight 

 between the ages of thirty and sixty he is either eating or drinking too much, or is 



Active in body and mind than he should be. Before resorting to Bantingism he 

 should try if he cannot bring himself down by giving up wine, spirits, and beer, by 

 lessening the amount of food by one-third or even more (without altering its nature), 

 and by taking more exercise. This plan will often lessen fat without reducing 

 the strength or injuring digestion. Should this fail after a fair trial, Mr. Banting's 

 plan, either in its integrity, or in a somewhat modified form, should be cautiously 

 adopted. 



We know of no drug, or combination of drugs, which will cure obesity wi\hout 

 injuring the health. Of course, the unexpectedly favourable result of Mr. Banting's 

 experiment was not in any way due to his morning draught. At one time it was 

 quite the fashion to take potash and other alkalies to diminish fatness. The result 

 of this method of treatment is that the mucous membrane or lining of the stomach 

 becomes disorganised, the appetite is lessened, and food is not assimilated. There is 

 no doubt that it will indirectly by this means cause considerable wasting of the body, 

 but it is surely very injudicious to damage the health, and perhaps endanger life, 

 with this object. Vinegar is also employed by many people for the same purpose, 

 but it acts in exactly the same way, and its use cannot be too strongly condemned. 



It is very essential that every one who undergoes a course of treatment for obesity 

 should be regularly weighed, and that a careful watch should be kept on the condi- 

 tion of the general health. Particular care should be taken that the appetite does 

 not fail, the power of digestion fall off, constipation ensue, the action of the heart 

 become enfeebled, or the blood get impoverished. As a rule, it is not advisable to 

 diminish the weight at a greater rate than a pound a week, and the experiment 

 should not be carried too far. 



OBSTRUCTION OF THE BOWELS. 



Obstruction of the bowels is a fearful disease, which may arise from a great 

 number of different causes. It is a very much more serious complaint than mere 

 constipation ; on the one hand we have to deal with a condition which usually yields 

 to a little judicious treatment, whilst on the other we have a disorder which too 

 often defies our best efforts. 



The causes of obstruction are many, and often it is quite impossible to distinguish 

 between them during life. The ordinary contents of the bowels, however unwhole- 

 some and indigestible they may be, seldom give rise to a permanent stoppage, and 

 even hard, foreign bodies, such as coins, bits of bone, teeth, marbles, plum-stones, 

 and the like, generally traverse the intestines without doing any harm. Pins and 

 needles have been known to prove equally innocuous. Unfortunately, however, 

 foreign bodies occasionally form accumulations sufficiently bulky to obstruct the 

 bowels. The case is recorded of a French soldier who was seized with all the 



