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THE AMERICAl^ BEE JOURNAL. 



I am pained at reading on page (ilO, 

 No. 49 of the Jouunal, Mr. Freden- 

 burg's touctiing letter about tlie death 

 of his two dear little boys from diph- 

 theria ; and the thought'at once forces 

 itself upon me, as it lias many times 

 before, is this fearful mortality from 

 this dread disease ntcessaiy ? is it in- 

 evitable '? I think not.' Indeed. I 

 know it is not. Of course I know it 

 is inevitable under the fatal circum- 

 stances, but the circumstances can be 

 changed, and hence the fatal results 

 changed from death to recovery. I 

 unhesitatingly affirm (and I know 

 whereof I affirm) that nineteen out of 

 every twenty of those children who 

 die of diphtheria could be saved by 

 simple, common-sense, home treat- 

 ment without a doctor at all. The 

 Allopathic or drug treatment of this 

 disease is nearly always fatal. I am 

 not a physician by profession, but I 

 have studied the whole of the popular 

 (and unpopular) medical systems and 

 understand the principles upon which 

 they are based, especially the popular 

 Drug system and the, as yet, unpopu- 

 lar Hygienic system. I have no axes 

 to grind one way or another. I have 

 no interest in any of them except to 

 know the truth. I studied them and 

 studied the science of health, as em- 

 braced in physiology and hygiene, for 

 my own physical preservation and the 

 physical good of those over whom I 

 might have influence and those de- 

 pendent upon me. The consequence 

 IS that for 2-") years I have not taken a 

 particle of medicine of any kind ; and 

 nave been quite free from sickness. 

 And this uniformly good health and 

 exemption from sickness has not been 

 due to an unusually strong and vigor- 

 ous constitution, which, unfortunate- 

 ly I never possessed. Indeed it was 

 just the reverse of this in youth, 

 coupled with certain predispositions 

 to disease, that impelled me to look 

 into and study tlie subject of health 

 and master tlie conditions upon which 

 it depends. Xo medicines— patent or 

 professional, quack or regular — are 

 used in our family ; no doctors are 

 employed to medicate with drugs. Our 

 habits are simple and natural and we 

 reap the reward in good health. 

 Physically speaking, the real, natural 

 needs of human beings are few and 

 simple ; the artificial and imaginarv 

 ones are many and complicated. Chil- 

 dren are not reared according to na- 

 ture, but according to the false and 

 unnatural conventionalities of society; 

 and the consequence of this is physi- 

 cal infirmities and moral obliquities. 

 Our only child — now about 10 years of 

 age— has never tasted a single"drop of 

 medicine of any kind — not even the 

 simple remedies" in common domestic 

 use ; and has always been free from 

 sickness with, of course, the excep- 

 tion of the contagious diseases inci- 

 dent to childhood and youth, such as 

 whooping cough, mumps, etc. 



The reader will, I am sure, pardon 

 me for so much personal allusion when 

 lie considers that I am writing this 

 with a motive to possibly benefit some 

 who may need uistruction and admo- 

 nition of this kind. It is a well known 

 fact in human nature that to some 

 minds personal facts and experience 



on any subject are all-convincing ; 

 while to others the principles upon 

 which the experience and practice are 

 predicated must be presented and 

 established. The latter class of think- 

 ers look below the surface at the foun- 

 dations and fundamentals ; while the 

 former are content with superficial 

 appearances and vrima facie evidence. 

 The safe way. then, in all matters not 

 palpable or axiomatic, is. that while 

 mere experience may be adduced as an 

 auxiliary for the "purpose named, to 

 put forward or postulate notliing that 

 will not bear the scrutiny of science 

 and reason. To illustrate this point : 

 The man who has used tobacco for oO 

 years and is now 70 or 80 adduces his 

 age and experience to prove that 

 tobacco is wholesome. The man who 

 has used whisky-and-water half a 

 century as a beverage and is now an 

 octogenarian cites his age and experi- 

 ence to prove that whisky is whole- 

 some ; while another octogenarian 

 who has used pure water his whole 

 life without the whisky cites his age 

 and experience to prove that water 

 alone is the most wholesome beverage. 

 But does the fact that the one has 

 used tobacco .oO years and is still 

 alive, and the other whisky -oO years 

 and is still alive, prove that tobacco is 

 wholesome or that whisky is whole- 

 some y If it proves anything in the 

 eye of the physiologist, it proves that 

 humanity is tough, and that some con- 

 stitutions can stand a great deal of 

 abuse. On the other hand does the 

 fact that the other octogenarian wlio 

 used only water prove that water is 

 wholesoriie. Xo. it does not, for we 

 must Vie fair on both sides. It will 

 thus be seen that fxpeneiice alone with- 

 out a rational or scientific interpreta- 

 tion is by no means a sure guide. 

 When the" tippler lives to be 80 and 

 avers that whisky is wholesome, and 

 the teetotlar lives to be 80 and avers 

 that only water is wholesome, science 

 must step in and decide the matter 

 between them, liy inquiring what is 

 whisky and what are its relations to 

 the living body of rrian : and what is 

 water and what are its relations to the 

 living system V 



When, therefore. I affirm the follow- 

 ing propositions (which I do most em- 

 phatically) I affirm what is supported 

 not merely l)y experience and prima 

 facie evidence, but what will stand 

 the scrutiny of the highest intelli- 

 gence and most advanced science of 

 to-day. The propositions are these : 



First, All sickness, disease and pre- 

 mature death, as well as all condi- 

 tions of health, are purely natural 

 sequences mostly within man's cogni- 

 tion and control, instead of being 

 eitherarbitrary "dispensations "or in 

 any manner fortuitous. 



Second, As a natural corollary of 

 this, human beings have, barring un- 

 avoidable accidents and hereditary 

 diseases,— their life and health in 

 their own hands. 



Third, Following also from the 

 above, nearly all the sickness, misery 

 and premature death with which the 

 world is filled is caused by ignorance 

 and could be avoided by knowledge. 



Fourth, As the preservation of 

 health and life is or ought to be the 



highest concern of life, our highest 

 and greatest duty is to study and 

 make ourselves acquainted with the 

 natural conditions upon which health 

 and life depend, so that we may pre- 

 serve our own health and instruct our 

 children in this knowledge and save 

 them from premature death. 



The masses, however, do not do this. 

 The most deplorable ignorance on 

 these subjects prevails, not only 

 among the lower classes, but among 

 the upper and so-called educated 

 classes. I say " so called " because no 

 man or woman is educated who does 

 not know how to take care of his or 

 her bodv or save their little ones from 

 premature death from diseases which 

 could either have been avoided alto- 

 gether or cured under proper hygienic 

 treatment. Through unphysiological 

 living, — the breathing of foul air and 

 poisonous miasms, bad eating and 

 drinking, uncleanliness. etc.. — sick- 

 ness invades the household. Wholly 

 ignorant of the causes, the victims 

 are equally ignorant of the remedies. 

 The doctor is sent for. He gives his 

 poisons. Some, with good vitality, 

 recover in spite of them ; others die. 



With reference to the disease called 

 diphtheria, as already asserted, 19 out 

 of every 20 of those who die might be 

 saved were the parents properly en- 

 lightened on those subjects ; and the 

 simple, natural treatment applied. I 

 j have never seen a single case prove 

 fatal under hygienic treatment; but 

 have seen at least five-sixths die under 

 the regular drug treatment. 

 I In order to make this letter practi- 

 cally useful, and in the hope of saving 

 some of the little ones from prema- 

 ture and unnecessary death, I will 

 give here some instructions as to the 

 treatment of diphtheria, which I have 

 done before and which has not been 

 without good results. 



Of course it is impossible to give a 

 detailed treatment to apply in all 

 cases, as the diathesis varies so much ; 

 hut a general plan may be indicated. 

 Cold applications to the throat, absti- 

 nence for a time from food, enemas to 

 free the bowels, cooling drinks of pure 

 soft water, tepid bathing, and 

 thorough ventilation and cleanliness 

 is the simple hygienic treatment of 

 this disease and "will save every child 

 and adult to whom it is applied in 

 time, except, perhaps, those with very 

 frail or scrofulousconstitutions, whom 

 no treatment could save. A small 

 piece of ice taken into the patient's 

 mouth and shallowed, or allowed to 

 melt in the mouth, and then replaced 

 by another, and so on. has been effec- 

 tual, with good nursing, in many 

 cases, without any other special treat- 

 ment. The rationale of tliis treat- 

 ment is simply this : The cold appli- 

 cations to the mouth and throat, by 

 reducing the violent heat and inflam- 

 mation, arrest the fibrinous exudation, 

 thus preventing the formation of the 

 false membrane, which so often chokes 

 the patient to death. It is very im- 

 portant that the feet be kept warm, 

 and the excess of blood diverted from 

 the head to the extremities. Indeed, 

 a primary indication in all diseases is 

 to restore the balance of the circula- 

 tion ; and this can be done in a simple, 



