224 MICROBES AND HEALTH. 



else, too much hard work, or other forms of excess. 

 The greatest cause is constipation. 



Many finely written articles and much theorizing have 

 been indulged in, regarding the causes of constipation; 

 some claiming a lack of development in the thickness 

 of the muscular walls of the digestive tract, imperfect 

 nerve-supply, poor circulation; in the kind of food 

 taken, in pathologic or diseased relations in the sur- 

 rounding tissues or organs; some arguing that the 

 malady is congenital, some that it is acquired; some 

 claiming that it is due to too much hard work, and 

 some to not enough, etc. And all this time consti- 

 pation reigns supreme, and every day plunges the in- 

 dividual lower in the scale of health. Constipation 

 means the production of many poisons which per- 

 meate the system, with lowering tendencies, deadening 

 sensibility, stupefying every fiber. The poisons formed 

 in the digestive tract are absorbed, producing a chronic 

 state of disease. 



The blood lacks the normal constituents and con- 

 tains too much waste, the blood-corpuscles are not 

 healthy, the circulation becomes sluggish, with a tend- 

 ency to coagulation. These conditions are evidence 

 that nature is demanding her rights. The individual 

 has transgressed beyond the limit of safety, and now 

 must pay the debt, principal and interest. 



After disease is established skillful treatment may 

 be needed, yet every disease and condition of ailment 

 will be benefited by a properly selected diet, proper 

 elimination, and the avoidance of all excesses. 



