Introduction 27 



therapy, and dietetics are solving the treatment of 

 the more serious and definitely specific forms of 

 disease. 



But the functional diseases, the degenerative dis- 

 eases, many gastro-intestinal, respiratory, cardiac, 

 and renal diseases, as well as a host of chronic in- 

 volvements, are as much of a problem as ever and 

 keep an army of general practitioners on the go 

 despite the hospitals, the surgeons, and the spe- 

 cialists. 



Medical progress has not impressed itself very 

 definitely on plain, every-day morbidity. Indeed, 

 it must be confessed that our serums, our vaccines, 

 our synthetics, our endocrine organ remedies, and our 

 potent newer remedies in general, do not reduce the 

 mortality from this class of diseases. In the pres- 

 sure of modern life we, as a people, suffer more than 

 formerly from pneumonia, arteriosclerosis, neuroses, 

 hepatic and renal affections, and the large class of 

 diseases incident to the "strenuous life" and what 

 is misnamed "efficiency" and "system." 



Centuries of experience have taught the world 

 that these ordinary affections are best combated / 

 with simple and kindly-acting botanic remedies, vv 

 At present we have so many new tools to try that ^ 

 these botanic remedies are neglected. I believe this 

 to be a wrong policy. 



Right here it is but proper to give credit to the 

 Eclectic School, its practitioners, journalism, and 

 pharmaceutical manufacturers, for keeping this class 

 of remedies alive. Nevertheless, they, as a school, 

 are fast losing out in this admirable ambition, and 

 for these reasons: They have made little advance 

 in pathology and diagnosis; they have tied too 



