Valere Aude (DARE TO BE HEALTHY)

or

THE LIGHT of PHYSICAL REGENERATION

A vade mecum on BIOLOGY and the HYGIENIC-DIETETIC METHOD of HEALING

By Dr. Louis Dechmann Biologist and Physiological Chemist

Second Edition (Compendium) 1919 SEATTLE. WASHINGTON Christmas 1918

WASHINGTON PRINTING COMPANY SEATTLE USA 1919



DEDICATION

"Dispel this cloud, the light of Heaven restore; Give me to see, and Ajax asks no more!"

(Pope)

To you of that great voiceless multitude,

"THE PEOPLE"—

You whose bewildered cry is still for light; whose silent tragedy our well beloved Longfellow could so well portray:

"O suffering sad humanity! O ye afflicted ones, who lie Steeped to the lips in misery, Longing, and yet afraid to die, Patient, though sorely tried!"

To you and your needs this brief epitome of a coming greater work is given as a fitting Christmas offering—

"LET THERE BE LIGHT!"

It is the cry which despairing, deluded humanity, in the darkness of its frenzied ignorance, has flung back hopelessly to heaven since first the spirit of an Infinite Intelligence brooded upon the race. It is the appeal of man's immortal unity to the All-Father, from age to age, for knowledge sufficient for its hourly needs, since ever, back in the far dim ages of the earth, primeval man, beetle-browed, furtive and fashioned fearsomely, first felt the faint vibration of a Soul; and, like an awakened giant, that chief of human faculties, a Mind took form which, pressing on along the uncertain way, has scaled the giddy heights of knowledge where genius, enthroned, does battle with an envious world of shams and greed and venal prejudice. Led by the resistless pulse of power it follows still that "banner with a strange device: Excelsior!";—for, ever onward yet it wends its way where'er the devious pathway trends, whose troubled, varied course is time, whose bourne is in eternity.

But where seek we, then, the answer to a cry so shrill, that smites the high face of heaven from a world in pain?

Shall we seek it where false learning leads us in the quest?—Ah no.

It comes, not in the crash of Sinai's thunders with the rockings of a riven sphere, as in the allegoric stories of a puerile past.

Softly it falls—yes, almost fearfully—from the fervid lips of some lone world-neglected persecuted man—some patient toil-worn son of science, whom Genius loves to call her own—though, haply, to the schools, to fortune and to fame unknown. One whose transcendent, superconscious mind has dared, Prometheus-like, to snatch from heaven the fire of the immortal gods and offer it in benefits to all mankind.

Thrice happy he upon the sensory surface of whose open mind such seeds of knowledge and of wisdom fall, and happy the land where one and all may dare to warm chill hands and hearts before its sacred flame; that halcyon land, the Ultima Thule of our fond imaginings, wherein true freedom reigns; wherein the legalized tyranny of the chartered libertines of a so-called learned profession shall be finally relegated, in common cause to the limbo of a sordid and degraded past. For these are they who seek to maintain a strangle-hold on science, who paralyze the arm of individual research and, even in this advancing age, still block the path of progress and of peace, of universal freedom and equality of intellect, to all beyond the narrow limits of their own elect.

Thus then, to the free fraternity of the open mind I dedicate this brief resume of the product of long years of study and of toil, steadfastly believing that therein is found the missing dimension for their urgent need, suited alike to all who hold that to maintain the health of body and of mind is a worthy object for enlightened man. To you, mothers of the land, who recognize your duty, towards God and to the State, to rear your children healthy, strong and good to look upon. To all whose keener common-sense looks upon Nature, the Creator, as logically therefore, the healing power also. To all endowed with wit to understand the obvious truth that, not by poisonous drugs is healing wrought, but by such reasonable help as man's intelligence can afford, to second nature's effort to that end; and further, that, in order to achieve success, it is useless to attack, suppress or remove the symptoms of disease by force of drugging or the knife, whilst the cause of the evil is left untouched, unthought of, and, too frequently, unknown. Truth and reason alike proclaim: remove the cause and the symptom must disappear.

To all, then, to whom the ever blessed triad of health, hope, and happiness on earth, are dear, the sanctity of child-life and the improvement of the race; and especially to those whose clearer mental vision can grasp the stupendous fact of eternal Universal Unity—the oneness with that mighty Primal Cause, the great Life Principle, immanent and active throughout all nature; can grasp and assimilate the idea that everything that has life is, each in its separate form and degree, but a medium through which the Infinite Universal Source of Life—that vast, ineffable power which we, blindly, designate as God—or Good—seeks expression in the scheme of evolution whose aim sublime is pure perfection, as its ultimate, attainable, though far off goal. Directed and attracted by an intelligence we call divine, it is a hope, instinct with ability, implanted by that Power in the soul of man, as patent in his ceaseless struggle upward toward the light of fuller knowledge; it is a power, restricted, only in degree, by that individual sense of human limitations fostered by false prophets and grounded in the vitals of the race.

To you all, this brief precis is presented, as a guide, with the author's benediction, coupled with the fervent hope that, reading the scientific deductions and precepts therein contained you, too, may see Regeneration's Light and seeing, may

"Dare to be Healthy."

LOUIS DECHMANN,

Christmas, 1918. Seattle, Wash.



"Dare to be Healthy"



FORE-WORD

To the Reader:

The volume, shortly to be published, and to which the ensuing pages are designed to serve the purpose of stepping-stone or forecast, has been compiled for the purpose of placing before the public the experiences of thirty-five full years of my life as a biologist and physiological chemist, devoted to the sifting and solution of vital problems of health and eugenics and in the practice of the resultant knowledge of the laws of life discovered in the course of my research.

I would beseech you, in your own vital interest, to peruse these pages thoughtfully and with an open mind. There are throughout America already, thousands of steadfast disciples who are daily reaping the benefits of the teachings contained therein; and I would that you also may be added to that goodly multitude, to enjoy together with them the best advantages emanating from systematic study along the most advanced lines of modern thought and science. The facts are correlated and simply expressed with the earnest desire to bring within the scope of the layman the good that may accrue. It is, however, not for the laymen alone that this work is undertaken, but for unprofessional and professional alike, be he medical student or practitioner or other interested person; for to each and all I present herein the best that a lifetime of research has enabled me to wring from nature's secret store for the betterment and conservation of human life and the help of human kind.

In the development of my movement I have formulated a system under which all may participate in the benefits of my message, though possibly prevented by circumstances in some cases from coming within direct personal contact with myself.

This system comprises the following:

The "Dare to be Healthy" Club.

The "Dare to be Healthy" Lecture Course.

The "Dare to be Healthy" Hygienic Dietetic Course.

Full particulars regarding these will appear at a subsequent point in this prospectus.

LOUIS DECHMANN.



INTRODUCTION

"... Argentea proles, Auro deterior, fulvo pretiosior aere."

(Ovid)

Succeeding times a silver age behold Excelling brass, but more excelled by Gold.

Hessiod, in his celebrated distribution of mankind, divides the species into three orders of intellect.

"The first place," says he, "belongs to him who can, by his own powers, discern what is fit and right, and penetrate to the remoter motives of action.

"The second place is claimed by him who is willing to hear instruction and can perceive right and wrong when they are shown to him by another;—but he who hath neither acuteness nor docility—who can neither find the way by himself, nor will be led by others, is a wretch without use or value."

"You are seeking truth," quoth Adalbert von Chamisso, "Remember that the world clings more firmly to superstition than to faith,"—or, to borrow expression from an equally inspired source,—remember that perverse humanity rarely fails to favour, rather, what Shakespeare terms "The seeming truth which cunning times put on to entrap the wisest."

Courageous, then, must be the knight who sets his lance in rest to tilt against the windmills of the world.

Nevertheless, although the truth is still banned as "heterodox" by common consent—or tacit connivance—an attitude patent to commercial instincts in view of the cataclysm which must naturally ensue, with deadly results to the vested interests of orthodoxy, so soon as the long-trusted barriers of plausible and pretentious mystery and importance shall be swept away by the rising tide of popular indignation. When the masses become educated to discriminate between truth and falsehood and thus shall come into their rights, then and not till then, will the dawn of physical salvation break.

Still, I maintain, there are, and have been all along the way, eminent medical men of high intelligence, who, unlike the drones of the medical hive, have dared to think for themselves and have even dared to speak their thoughts.

Thus, for instance, spoke Sir William W. Gull, Physician to her late Majesty Queen Victoria: "Having passed the period of the goldheaded cane and horsehair wig, we dare hope to have also passed the days of pompous emptiness; and furthermore, we can hope that nothing will be considered unworthy the attention of physicians which contributes to the saving of life."

Again, an authority of the first rank, Prof. Oesterlin, says in his noted work on the Materia Medica:

"The studious physician of our century will hardly expect to accomplish by force, through some strange drug or other, that which only nature can bring about when assisted by all the rational accessories of hygiene and dietetics.

Nature alone can furnish the beneficient means, sufficient for all needs,"—which the science of medicine never has afforded and never can.

As we survey the civilization of our age and its medical science, we see, on the one hand, the crude superstitions of the masses, the subtler superstitions of the educated classes; gross materialism, bewildering Darwinism, pessimism, and degenerate political economy; on the other hand, unmitigated quackery and cupidity, with its weight of oppression on humanity,—everywhere confusion instead of harmony.

Very surely,—and perhaps more speedily than we think—a reaction will come, when our present degenerate system of medical subterfuge—misnamed science—will have passed away, to be replaced by accredited methods of natural healing consistent with the dignity of an enlightened, self-respecting people.



"Ignorance is the curse of God: Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven"

(Shakespeare)

THE HYGIENIC-DIETETIC METHOD OF HEALING

Biology, the Science of life, has developed under my hand that system of natural healing which I practice, in common with some of the most successful physicians on the continents of Europe and America.

Although based upon the same biological laws, their systems of therapy—or healing—differ materially from one another. My system is entirely my own, developed during the last thirty-five years to that degree of perfection it has attained today.

I am, naturally, honestly proud of the success achieved during this strenuous period, yet am I still as anxiously imbued as ever with the spirit and habit of research which is now directed to the endeavour to further simplify my method of treatment, by further discoveries in the realm of that most abstruse of the sciences, Physiological Chemistry.

In this baffling but wonderful domain I am inspired by the ambitious hope that some, at any rate, of the many unsolved problems of the Science of Life may yet give up their secrets to the demand of my persistency, exerted in the interest of the well-being of humanity.

After centuries devoted by the faculty to a futile and arrogant attempt to counteract the disturbances of health, which we call diseases, in the stereotyped manner known as "orthodox;" after endless complications, infinite "specializing"—in itself a futility—and unblushing complicity with the powers that be, we find them now at length, baffled, discredited, but unashamed, cast back, discomforted, upon Mother Nature's kindly breast, their victims humbly seeking healing in simple unity from her ample store.

Based upon this firm foundation, we term the new departure the "Natural Method of Healing."

The greatest physicians of all time, from Hippocrates to our own day, were satisfied to be simply natural physicians. They were not satisfied to merely suppress the symptoms of suffering and to quiet the sufferer by abnormal appliances. Their higher, more ambitious aim was to reach the active source of distress—and in this they succeeded.

For, not only did they achieve where others failed, but, in addition to healing, they also prevented the recurrence of disease, and, more noteworthy still, they established a system of Prophylactic Therapy, which is the highest function of the healing art; namely, the prevention of disease by treatment before full development, or, in other words, the preservation of health.

It is not the object of this brief brochure to enter into the devious details which a full explanation of this practical, successful, modern method would require. It is designed merely for those who, after experiencing disappointment and failure in other directions, have had recourse, as a last alternative, to advice and assistance, from myself.

Such patients, as a rule, have heard of my method from others; have heard that it differs widely, in its frank simplicity, from the empty pomposity of the old-school "orthodox" elements, though of the principles of the old-school teaching they have really little or no conception, beyond a crude, unwholesome, fear of the unknown, consequent upon the, very necessary, veil of mystery with which its votaries surround themselves—a semi-superstitious sentiment inherited from a malignant past and one which does little credit to the vaunted modern civilization of today.

On this point of difference they ask for enlightenment, and naturally enquire as to the nature of both, but especially of this new hope which is held out to them as a refuge in their hour of despair.

This information it is equally my duty and my desire to give, and in the most convenient and simple form, shorn of all shroud of mystery; for my object is to educate and not to conceal.

It is my chief desire that patients should thoroughly understand the methods and principles of the New-School of Healing and should exercise their own intelligence as to its merits as compared with the old, and, being once thoroughly convinced—not by faith, or fear, or fashion, nor yet biased by the unfair influence of the false prestige of a legalized monopoly detrimental to the interest of the people—they should forthwith honestly test the new deliverance by faithfully following my advice and instruction, to their own unfailing ultimate benefit and relief.

As a labour of love towards the world in general and the people of my adopted country in particular, I have made it my duty to formulate the substance of my researches in the field of science—researches which represent the struggles of a lifetime—in a large and comprehensive work which, to the scientist as well as to the laymen, will constitute in the most detailed and complete degree a reliable guide to the conservation of health which, even now, in the immediate present, has come to be regarded not only as a scientific phase of education, but as a duty incumbent upon every citizen. Should sickness supervene, as well it may sometimes, despite all reasonable precaution, the knowledge and instructions contained therein are sufficient, if closely followed, to prevent, for the most part, the serious consequences of disease and to afford the patient the necessary enlightenment to enable him to co-operate with the hygienic-dietetic physician in the task of restoring him to health and ability.

This book, entitled "Regeneration" or "Dare to be Healthy," will consist of some three thousand or more pages. It will be published shortly; and, in the common interests of human health will, I trust, find prominent place on the book-shelf of every home whose inmates either belong to the ever increasing number of the followers of my patients, or who, by careful study of my teachings therein contained, may be finding their independent way back from the dreary depths of suffering to the glad plains of health.

In following up the general outline of the "New Regeneration" these pages will not lend themselves to the otherwise necessary encounter with what are now admitted to be the recognized errors of the, temporarily dominant, medical school, save in so far as it may be requisite to remove from the mind of the layman pernicious and antiquated ideas to which he has been long and persistently educated, or to protect those who have ceased to believe in them from the pitfalls to which, as an alternative, they may be exposed amongst the numberless unscientific, quasi-miraculous, healing cults, or the equally pernicious nostrums of the spectacular advertising medicine vendor, both of whom reap golden harvests among the ranks of the so justly disappointed and despairing people.

* * * * *

It is, nevertheless, an imperative duty to issue this necessary warning; namely, that the public should safeguard itself against the absurd, but possible mistakes of confusing the Legitimate Scientific School of the Hygienic Dietetic Method of Biological Healing with the nebulous cults aforesaid. There is no vestige of resemblance between them, either in thought or principle, and nothing could be more fatal and foreign to the truth.

* * * * *

There is one thing, and one only, which, like the rest of the community, we share with them in common, and this is that growing spirit of profound distrust with which all classes seem daily more and more constrained to regard the Medical Fraternity and all its ways.

It is the general knowledge of the existence of this sentiment which has called into being the present epidemic of curious cults and catholicons—due, it would appear, more to this insidious temptation to such commercial enterprise than to any other cause—and which form so prominent a feature throughout all sections of the community—and especially in the press—throughout the length and breadth of the land. To such, in an alarming degree, the public turns, in protest, as it were, against the tyranny and turpitude of this "learned profession," with its kindred corporations and its studied callous disregard of scientific advancement in any direction which might tend to jeopardize or reduce the profitable exercise of its own obsolete methods, its system of poisonous medicaments, and dangerous operations and anti-toxins.

There is no possible efficacy or help to be derived from other teachings, whatsoever they may be, except from those based absolutely upon the solid foundation of biological fact. Since Johannes Mueller (1833) wrote the first book on physiology and its chemistry, more than a thousand so-called "Authorities" in that branch of science have tried to find some of the secrets of nature pertaining to physiology. A very few (about 10 or 12) may be named as great men who discovered certain laws and solved certain problems. But the majority added nothing to Mueller's discoveries. Most of them became teachers or authors, one plagiarizing the work of the other, eulogy being very liberally distributed on all sides, but valuable deductions from the great masters, very few have been able to make, and even those were more or less suppressed by the "orthodox school." In less than half the time since 1833, i.e. 85 years, it was my good fortune to give more valuable deductions and practical applications to the student and the reader, than the mediocre talents of the "old school" were able to give.

* * * * *

I pretend to no miracles and expect none; nor do I arrogate to myself any so-called super-natural secrets or powers; I simply maintain that, aided by the erudition of the great scientists of the past and present, this system has finally been brought to a point which should rightly have been always the chief aim of Medical Science, namely, an exact knowledge of human nature and the human organism, as it is.

With this vital knowledge at command I have been able to successfully formulate a system for supplying the individual organism with any of the various constituents of which it may be deficient, in a manner in which it can best receive and assimilate the same, thereby maintaining a correct balance between the constituents of the blood wherein lies hidden the sole criterion of health and the fatal secret of disease.

Simple as this may sound, the way has been long and lonely until that elusive goal was reached; and, even now, in the heat of the controversy which ensues, we find ourselves sometimes in a somewhat parlous position, placed, as it were, between two fires; on the one side are those who, though not without sympathetic feeling for the well-intentioned, earnest-minded believers in the errors now being exposed, yet cast aside all scruples in the interest of humanity and truth. On the other side are those obsessed by care and compunction for these accredited practitioners who by reason of age or temperament are unable or unwilling to assimilate new ideas or to relinquish the theories of a life time in order to enter the field of competition with the men of a younger generation.

Such is the impasse before which we stand.



REGENERATION OF THE RACE

BY THE LIGHT OF BIOLOGY AIDED BY PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY.

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:... whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it."

(St. Paul, I Corinthians, XII. 12 & 26.)

"DYSAEMIA, or Impure Blood is the cause and source of disorder in all constitutional diseases. So spoke the Master. Believe it who will, that, in a nutshell, is 'the burden of my song'—the Alpha and Omega of my teaching."

(From Chapter X. "Dare to be Healthy.")

The Process of Natural Healing is the art of curing diseases by natural methods.

As natural remedies, only those may be included which stand as vital conditions in constant relation to the organism, assimilable thereby.

Among these are no poisons or chemical preparations, such as were promulgated by Paracelsus and the medicasters; for these are elements abnormal to the body, and call forth its reactionary powers, and so, being useless, they are eliminated; or, after having served an improper purpose, to suppress some symptom of disease, they become embedded in the tissues, there causing various forms of medicinal complication or morbid condition.

Do we not produce blood poisons enough by our irrational diet and modes of living? The human body is a microcosm—a world in minature—and as such, exists in constant interchange with universal nature.

A definite relationship exists between it and the solid, fluid and gaseous elements.

Solid food, water and air, elements of the universe, must become elements of our bodies, if relations of universal unity are to be maintained.

There must be a constant interchange of organic matter, and this inter-transmission is the cause of life, of health, and of disease; therefore, we must first of all see that the conditions of this process are uninterrupted.

Food, air, water, light, exercise, must be so provided that they condition the process of nutrition and metamorphosis.

Skin, lungs, kidneys, intestines, must always be in condition to eliminate the abnormal products of decomposition.

If then disease be a derangement of the life process, it is self-evident that disease is not confined to one organ alone, but that the whole body is diseased.

The body, thus, being in fact an indivisible unity, the treatment we employ in disease must, logically, act upon it as a united whole.

The modern school of medicine in its present, bacteria ridden frame of mind or mania, looks upon the bacillus, or microbe, as the sole cause of disease.

The cause, however, is not the bacillus, but rather the impure blood which prepares a fertile soil for the development of those destructive germs.

He who lives strictly in accordance with the rules of hygiene need not fear the bacillus, for man is not born to sickness; he creates sickness for himself by his irrational mode of living.

What does the world profit by bacteriological institutions if the people continue to live in the old sins against health and hygiene?

Man may be born with a predisposition to disease, but not with disease itself.

Our health depends entirely upon the conditions of our life.

In cases of predisposition to disease, therefore, as well as in disease itself, according to the principles of hygiene, we must employ only the hygienic and dietetic methods of treatment.

Is the medical science of the day, then, totally incompetent? You may well ask.—Have the patient studies and researches of nearly two thousand four hundred years, since the days of Hippocrates, been all in vain?

The reply lies ready to your hand, from the lips of one of the brightest scientific spirits that ever illumined this dull earth of ours with knowledge and sincerity.

In Goethe's Faust the following lines are found,—lines which sad memory brings back to the minds of many an unfortunate who, according to the dictates of the medical science of today, is pronounced incurable—a sufferer from one or other of the so-called chronic diseases—and in dire need of both physical and spiritual support.

"I have, alas, philosophy, Medicine, jurisprudence too, And, to my cost, theology With ardent labour studied through, And here I stand with all my lore, Poor fool, no wiser than before"

Like Faust, such sufferers study day and night the opinions of learned doctors and follow their prescriptions with ardent zeal. The more they study, the more doctors they consult, the more rapidly does strength fail them, until at length they realize that, in spite of all their lore, they are but "poor fools, no wiser than before."

For more than two thousand years it has been, in fact, as it is to a great extent today; the physician prescribes to the best of his knowledge, medicines compounded according to certain rules dogmatically laid down in the schools.

Here we have at once the fatal mistake at a glance.

Instead of studying nature and the laws of nature, instead of using natural means to heal disease, they administer deadly poisons to allay suffering, poisons, which doubtless may be able to repress pain or to temporarily suppress the symptoms of disease; but can never remove the cause, which alone may rightly be called healing.

The drugs prescribed by thousands of physicians today, with but a casual acquaintance with their action, are bound by their nature to produce evils worse than the disease itself.

To cite an instance:

Physicians prescribe creosote in cases of consumption to stop the expectoration of blood.

Creosote will do this, and may suppress the cough, as well as the accompanying pain; but will it cure consumption or destroy or remove the cause of this deadliest of diseases?

On the contrary, it inevitably produces laryngeal phthisis after a very short time. It destroys the head of the windpipe and the patient dies in consequence of the destruction of one of the most important organs of the body.

In most instances the physician is either oblivious or unaware of these facts. He follows those old-standing doctrinal sophisms laid down by human "science" but discredited by nature.

His courage is called "audacity" by those who have not lost all feeling for humanity.

Meanwhile, those who regard medical science from a business standpoint only, are very quick to pronounce judgement upon any natural treatment of disease and to condemn the most successful natural physicians as charlatans and frauds.

In order to be competent to decide upon a correct course in the treatment of disease the physician must possess a thorough chemical knowledge of all the fundamental substances of which the human organism is constructed. With the patient therefore rests the responsibility of choosing his physician, since no physician can be of any assistance who cannot define what substances are deficient in the blood, and who does not possess the requisite technical knowledge to supply this deficiency by adequate dietetic means.

In my nutrition cell-food therapy for constitutional diseases, I have followed consistently upon the lines of one of the greatest masters of physiological chemistry that the world has known, who, in one of his medical colloquies spoke as follows: "In order to thoroughly understand any form of sickness or disease, so as to undertake the cure of the same, it is first of all necessary to picture before one's mental vision the ways and means of its inceptive formation, and by degrees to trace its origin, step by step, before one is enabled to decide upon adequate remedial measures conformable to the individual stages of the same."

In this sense it has ever been my strenuous endeavor to fathom the secret of the inception of constitutional diseases; but the entire medical literature did not advance me further than pathological anatomy, which informs us that the original cause of disease is a change in the form of the cellular elements of different digestive organs,—in explanation of which the customary technical terms are used, such as "atrophy," "degeneration," "metamorphosis," etc. But, I reasoned with myself, this surely cannot be seriously regarded as the origin of disease!

The cause of the visible changing of the cellules must be sought in the conditional interstitial substances which cause the invisible changes or shiftings of the cellular forms, and which are scientifically termed "Changed nutritional conditions."

By the aid of physiological chemistry I was successful in finding a pathway to the centre of those mysterious occurrences of life.

And this was my course of reasoning: As the cellules, which are the smallest individual elements of the human system, are only products of the blood, and for their composition require the different chemical substances in sufficient quantities, it is obviously necessary to fathom what those chemical elements of the cellules may be, what form they take in their mutual relation to the separate parts of the body, and in what way they enter the organism.

In this manner I obtained a clear insight into the actions of the so-called mineral material in the organism, and it gradually became obvious to me that everything is dependent upon the introduction of the proper sanguifying or nutritive mineral salts into the blood.

On this basis I founded the so-called "organic nutritive cell-food therapy" (called the Dech-Manna therapy).

The point may be raised that the elements of the food we eat or drink are heterogeneous and that the mineral matter in them is naturally and casually acquired, according to the properties of the soil they grow in. This is the general opinion, but not the fact. Our vegetables, grain, meat and milk contain too much phosphoric acid and sal ammoniac, and this is due to the use of artificial and animal fertilizers, while the sulphurics are very often entirely missing.

Von Liebig says: When we consider that the sugar refineries of Waghausel have an annual output in the market of 600,000 lbs. of potassic salt, which is taken from the soil by the turnips of the Baden fields without being replaced, and that there is cultivated in Northern Germany, year by year, with the assistance of guano, an immense amount of potatoes solely for the manufacture of spirits, and that these potato fields are consequently robbed of the essential ingredients which potatoes should contain, and as these elements are only partially replaced by the insufficient component parts of the guano, we cannot be in doubt as to the condition of these fields. The ground may be ever so rich in ingredients, but it is exhaustible. The analysis of our blood indicates that, in order to remain healthy, it must contain twice as many sulphuric as phosphoric salts.

We talk glibly about a natural mode of living, a simple diet; but where in our civilized countries can we find food that really serves healthy sanguification?

The crux of the question is this: Why do we propose to heal naturally and not also to nourish naturally?—The latter is, to say the least of it, just as important as the former. But if both were practiced conjointly, a beneficial object might be more quickly and surely gained.

It is true, we are taught to eat more vegetables than meat; that our bread lacks the chief nourishing qualities, and so on; but we have hitherto been in no wise informed as to the substances that are relatively harmful or beneficial to us.

Why is it then that the science of the sanative power of nature, as well as medical science, is still in doubt in regard to the relation that must absolutely exist between the separate component parts of our nourishment in order to obtain normal healthy sanguification?

The reason is that the application of a real chemistry of life has never been comprehended until now.

According to my judgment it is Von Liebig and Julius Hensel who showed us the paths we are to take to the field of enquiry most important of all; for without a sound body all the coveted acquisitions of modern times are worthless to us.

The solution of the question how to prevent the degeneration of mankind would be a simple and natural one, if history and proverb had not taught us that as often as a new truth appears "the very oxen butt their horns against it." They cannot help this, the "disposition" is natural; for when Pythagoras had found the Master of Arts, Mathesios, he was so overjoyed that he sacrificed one hundred oxen to the gods, and ever since that time oxen are attacked with an hereditary fright whenever a new truth appears,—the human ox is no exception.

Of what use to us, for instance, are the Roentgen X-rays in diseases of the nerves when there is a generally diseased condition of the blood, which, as we now know, is also the primary cause of lung, liver, stomach and kidney troubles, cancer, scrofula, rheumatism, gout, obesity, diabetes, and the rest?

In such cases chemistry is necessary, in order to ascertain what ingredients are missing in the blood; they cannot be detected microscopically.

What blunders are continually committed in the treatment of nerve diseases! No one considers the physiological law that no parts of the nerves can perform their functions lastingly and naturally unless they are continually supplied with blood permeated with oxygen; and for this purpose iron is most necessary as an adequate ingredient.

Physicians of the old-school do prescribe iron plentifully, but in inorganic form; and because it is not organized it is indigestible and is excreted. That is why the treatment of the diseases of the nerves, which are so general and widespread, has been so unsuccessful.

It is not generally known that organized ammonium phosphate (Lecithin), which is the mineral foundation of the Neurogen I prescribe, will regenerate the nerve cells if consumed in the proper proportions. It is, likewise, little known that although a person with diseased lungs be placed under conditions where he may acquire an ample quantity of pure air—that is oxygen—and may consume as much as four quarts of milk daily, he will nevertheless most certainly be doomed to perish if his food does not contain the elements of iron, lime and sulphur in sufficient quantities.

These simple physiological laws have been ignored and medical men have given us instead, the teachings of the school of bacteriology with its pitiful illusions and its endless train of suffering and sorrow.

The testimony of many patients who have undergone treatment in the best physical culture and so-called, natural healing establishments both in Europe and America, serves to show that their success has been but partial and one-sided; that is, they have abandoned their wrong albumen theory, and their state of health has consequently improved. But, practically, the treatment has failed; for complete and final recovery—that is, full and correct nutrition and strengthening of the nerves, has not been accomplished. Such failure is due to the fact that certain essential constituents have not been supplied. These vital constituents my organic nutritive cell-food therapy is designed to provide.

What is lacking in the field of practical science, as authoritatively voiced by the unprogressive faculty of today, is an absence of chemical knowledge, especially on the part of the physician and the naturalist; and, as likewise, the so-called scientific farmer upon whose assurances we so naturally rely for the wholesome production of food is woefully ignorant on matters of agricultural chemistry, the logical consequence is that in all civilized countries great mistakes have been unconsciously made and perpetuated, detrimental to the health of man and beast alike and vitally prejudicial to the healthy sustenance of the race.

Where are the most vitally necessary mineral substances to be found in nature?

It is an established fact that the fields, on which our nutritive salts or cell-foods—our vital sustenance—are grown, were originally formed from decayed primitive rock and this primitive earth-crust matter is composed of the same mineral substances that are found in normal blood. Therefore, our physical welfare and our capacity to resist disease is clearly dependent upon the condition of our fields. We must always bear this in mind—the old truism—that,

"AS A MAN EATS, SO IS HE."

We are thus, directly, the products of our fields.

Wrongly fertilized, our fields must produce sickly vegetation, and this in turn will produce a sickly race and disease in cattle.

Primitive rock consists of granite, porphyry, gneiss and basalt, deposits which are still found upon the earth in immense quantities, and in the same condition as thousands of years ago.

As a matter of fact, proposals have been made by noted scientists to utilize pulverized rock of this kind as compost to assist the fields in a natural way, and so to restore them to their former producing power, which would thus enable plants, animals, and man, alike, to regain those substances indispensable to proper sanguification and general growth.

The agricultural experiments performed with this stone dust fully confirm this assumption.

One of the most important tasks of today is to indicate to the farmer new ways and means of promoting and increasing growth for the food supply of the nations.

Why, then, I imagine I can hear it asked, if this fact be true and demonstrated, has it not been applied?

This question may be answered by another. Why does not the natural system of Hygienic Dietetic Healing find general application in cases of sickness, since its success is so obviously greater than even that claimed by medical science?

To this vital question upon which so much of human life and happiness depends, the weak and degrading answer must suffice; to the effect that the last vestige of public respect for the sciences would be shaken, and many wise theories would fail of their imaginary virtues and succumb, before humanity's best birthright—the quality of healthy blood, kind nature's ample gift to all,—could be wrested from the selfish hand of tyranny and mankind enabled to secure from nature's willing hand the succour that an Infinite Providence offers to disease.

A physician to whom I once explained my theories, heard me for some minutes and then he said "Well, and so you want to create healthy blood in this way?" "Yes, surely," I replied. "We have no use for that," he callously exclaimed, "there would be no business in that."

Hence Mankind must degenerate and Disease of all kinds ride rampant through the land, rather than upset the firmly rooted fallacies of the past or foil the ghoul-like greed of a certain set of conscienceless practitioners.

To the first of these the terse old Latin satire would apply:

"Homine imperito nunquam quidquam injustius Qui, nisi quod ipse fecit, nihil rectum putat."

(Terentius.)

"Who is there so unreasoning as he, that learned drone, Who reckons nothing perfect save what he himself hath known."

(M.B.)

To the second let an outraged public reply.

* * * * *

But meanwhile, as the hideous holocaust proceeds, the mills of God grind slowly but mysteriously secure. The eternal law of equity is working still; and from every evil there proceeds a good. Truth may be hidden in the nether deeps, but some day the strained tension breaks, the balance reversing brings it to the light. Its spirit works for ever, like a ferment, hidden long, deep down in the Universal heart of things; for with majestic, unimpressionable tread, sublimely the silent force of human progress moves; slow and inevitably sure, the great indwelling spirit of a vast eternal energy leading man ever upward to the True and Best.

Against this axiom, alas, graceless and suicidal seems the unwisdom of the world, in action against all who offer it salvation from its pain; aye, though he be Christ or Commoner.

Rather be wrong in league with wealth and power than be right—and stand alone. This is now the worldly wisdom of the sage.

Genius at grips with material and religious power, fares ill; as with far-famed Copernicus, or "starry Galileo and his woes"; or, in a brave woman's daring words:—"He, who dares to see a truth not recognized in creeds, must die the death."

"A time of transition is a time of pain," is a truism well recognized by all, and he who would press Regeneration upon the world—weak, weary and unthinking as its people are—must run the gauntlet of the bitter antagonism of the exploiting clans on this benighted sphere, though later he may see, across the bourne that bounds life's earthly day, a stately monument, perchance, by gratitude upreared, where pious crowds pay tribute to his name.



HYMN OF HEALTH

(From the Greek)

Health, thou most frangible of heaven's dower, With thee may what remains of life be spent; Cease not upon me, thus, thy gifts to shower, And in my soul to find a tenement.

For what is there of beauty, wealth or power, Of gentle offspring, or the wiles of love, But owes its solace, sweet, in every hour, To thee, thou regent of the powers above.

The spring of pleasure blooms if thou but bless, And every step upon the Autumn way Is lit by thee, parent of happiness! Without thee sadly sounds life's roundelay.

(M.B.)

Health is one of those intangible inestimably precious possessions, like life and liberty, to which all are entitled by natural Law. Yet are there but few who are careful to conserve this priceless heritage. It is a boon all too often unappreciated until lost, and once lost, it may not always be regained, though intense be our regrets and our endeavours exhaust the field of human resource.

Again, although the possession of passable health may be ours, it is a condition rarely totally untroubled and continuous and, therefore, cannot be correctly classified as perfect health.

These simple definitions may seem to the reader trite and trivial; but how many of us, let me ask, give thought to their vital vast significance.

Never to need a physician; ever to be unconsciously guarded against all access of disease; to maintain the fair form and vigor of the body without effort, so that no depleting influences can find a hold; this is the health ideal by nature set, the standard to which the earliest progenitors of our race may doubtless have conformed, but upon which succeeding generations have sedulously turned their backs.

Philosophers have defined this physically perfect state.

Historians have immortalized it in heroic tomes.

Poets have extolled it in great epic verse.

Artists have depicted it in portraiture and tapestry.

Sculptors have expressed it in the life-like stone.

The sick have longed for it.

Saints have prayed for it and, in the search for its fabled, false elixir, alchemists have sacrificed their lives. It remained for the smug, "sober judgment" of our day to pronounce it "unattainable"—unattainable!

This, however, is a matter of small moment; for, as Whittier reminds us: "The falsehoods which we spurn today were the truths of long ago"—and although men part reluctantly with favorite—and lucrative—fallacies, and "Faith, fantastic Faith, once wedded fast to some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last," nevertheless this false belief, like so many other sapient pronouncements of human wisdom, must be subjected to final reversal.

The ideal state of health is, truly, "unattainable" when we refuse to yield obedience to the simple laws of nature—when we continuously persist in interference with her work and embarrass her with artificial substitutes, defying her august hygienic precepts by our manner of life.

Not so, however, if we yield to her inducements, fulfil her requirements, and submit ourselves freely to her unerring will.

There is less of fault than of weakness in the fact that so many of us fail to give nature the opportunity to rear us as healthy men and women, to keep us more free than we are from suffering and disease.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness and follow on the lines of the veriest simplicity.

The preservation of health must needs, then, move along these self-same simple lines.

It is ignorance, in most cases, rather than unwillingness that brings upon the race the punishment we call disease.

But how can they be expected to learn who have no teacher? And how can they teach who are themselves untaught?

It is incumbent upon those who have acquired knowledge to impart life-saving truths, and there is no greater benefactor of his kind than he who reduces life's problems to their simplest terms.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Such is the dictum of King David, the psalmist, as expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures.

All that man's intellect can conceive of the Almighty is bounded by its expression in Nature.

It is neither arrogant, nor irreverent, then, to claim with reasonable confidence that the devoted service of long years of close application to research in Nature's secret dwelling-place may entitle such an one to share the guidance of the Almighty mind and inspire him to share its favours with his fellow man.

* * * * *

This then, the Author of this brochure, realizing vividly and with sympathy, humanity's sore need, has been constrained to formulate, for the benefit of those desirous to learn;—a means of enlightenment suitable and accessible to all. For although, to quote from Goethe, whose transcendent mind was almost omniscient in all mundane things:

"Allwissend bin ich nicht; doch viel ist mir bewusst." (Omniscient am I not, though much I know.)

Yet "Unity is strength," and in conjunction with associated minds, such knowledge as I have may amply suffice to save many a sad sufferer from hereditary doom.

The scheme, or, to be more explicit, the Club, I purpose to inaugurate, is fully expounded in detail in the succeeding pages.



THE DARE TO BE HEALTHY CLUB

All other things the mandate, "must", obey, Man only has the power, "I will", to say.

(After Schiller.)

(M.B.)

Thoughtless and imitative, men follow custom, careless where it may lead, and unconsciously imitate each other.

Strong harmful habits grow, which overcome the opposing will and fickle fashion rules where common sense should reign.

Such instances are common to us all.

A combination opposed to such influences is the force we need and for this purpose I propose to establish a Club for the study of the ways and means of health.

THE DARE TO BE HEALTHY CLUB.

The Club will be comprised of those who desire to pursue a course of Health Study by correspondence.

This combination will constitute the first and only Club of its kind in the world.

It will unite in its membership a group of independent thinkers, representative of all parts of the American Continent.

The purpose of the Club will be to teach the science of Regeneration—to teach them to "dare to be healthy" according to the laws and teachings of biology.

These teachings will consist of a two years' course in Biology, dealing with its most important branches, in Physiology, Anatomy, Hygiene, Physiological Chemistry, Pathology, according to biological facts, and Therapy in accordance with biological and physical laws and precepts.

All methods of natural healing will be explained in detail, including diet, breathing exercises, and rest.

The comprehensive aim will be to inculcate the principles which govern the process of perfect metabolism—that is to say, the changes of nutritive matter within the body—as the means of bringing into being a race endowed with health and beauty and therefore predestined to happiness.

The course of instruction will be based upon the literature of science, including certain fundamental teachings from the pen of the author of the present pamphlet, which comprises, moreover, extracts from the works of distinguished scholars whose theories have been tried and tested during the last thirty-five years.

Its precepts will be based upon personal experience and actual practice, the outcome of careful and patient observation.

The series throughout will be formulated with a view to the purpose of graduating later from among those who follow the course, a body of competent instructors capable of transmitting the knowledge they have acquired to others, privately or professionally. But remember the axiom of Cicero:

"Not only is there an art in acquiring knowledge but also a rarer art in imparting it to others."

The first question, then, which will naturally arise in the mind of the reader will be:

What is This Method of Regeneration?

The reply to this question is in reality a simple one, but in order to explain and define the word "Regeneration" from a purely scientific standpoint, it will be necessary to cite the results of the author's researches and to outline his method of healing by regeneration, showing how he purposes to lead the way from a dark past and a dull present into a brighter future.

Before doing so, however, it may perhaps conduce to a better understanding if I quote from the remarks of an eminent local authority on the chemical composition of the body—a subject "new," as it appears, to the general medical practitioner of the day though, for over a quarter of a century freely expatiated upon by the great Biologists of the period.

The extract is taken from a recent article by Assistant Surgeon General Dr. W.C. Rucker, of the United States Public Health Service, and reads as follows:

"Much of the advance of modern medicine has been accomplished through the development of physiological chemistry which is even yet a new science.

"Although so new, it is assuming such importance as to make it manifest that the physiology of the future will be written largely in terms of chemistry.

"We have come to realize that the body is in a literal sense of the word, a chemical laboratory. The foods we eat, the fluids we drink, the gases we breathe are complex chemical compounds which the body must take apart and put together again in such a way that the materials may be delivered in a shape that will enable the cells to store them. It is then the business of the cells to utilize these materials for TISSUE BUILDING and in the production of energy, in the form of work and heat. The body manufactures different kinds of products, some beneficial, others harmful. Thus for example, excessive muscular effort throws into the bloodstream fatigue products that are poisonous. A person utterly tired out is really suffering from acute poisoning. On the other hand, to resist invasion by infectious diseases, the body manufactures anti-poisons that kill the enemy germs—making in other words, its own medicine."

The physical processes here mentioned by Dr. Rucker are fully explained in my book, "Dare to be Healthy," chapter VI, VII, VIII, and the natural principles involved have been practiced by me for over 30 years. I mention the fact simply as corroborative evidence of the authenticity and value of the work shortly to be published.

"Art may err, but Nature cannot miss,"—is an aphorism attributed to the poet Dryden. It adequately supports Dr. Rucker's wise, significant and timely pronouncement and reminds me of an illustrative incident recorded in connection with the world famed physician Boerhaave of Leyden,—Holland's chief centre of learning—who lived some 250 years ago, when doctors knew less than at present of the circulation and functions of the blood.

Boerhaave, it appears, conceived the idea of a sort of posthumous pleasantry, of a distinctly lucrative nature, at the expense of his medical brethren. Professional ignorance and popular superstition had alike surrounded his name with a halo of mystery and he was credited with almost miraculous powers of healing and the possession of the Secret of Disease and Health.

At the sale of effects, following his death, there was a great gathering of the most celebrated physicians of the day and his books and records fetched fabulous prices. But one special tome, ponderous, silver-clasped and locked, entitled: "Macrobiotic, The True and Complete Secret of Long, Healthy Life," was the cynosure of every avaricious eye. The auctioneer shrewdly reserved it until the last. Amidst a scene of unparalleled excitement and competition the Great Book was at length knocked down to a famous London physician for no less a sum than seven thousand Gulden. When opened with eager anticipation before the disappointed bidders, its pages were found to be blank—with one exception. Upon this one was inscribed in the handwriting of Boerhaave himself, only these ten words:

"Keep the head cool, the feet warm, the bowels open."

Turning to an excited audience it was thus the great London authority spoke:

"I once heard it said that the world is simple; that health is simple; that it is the folly of man that causes all complications, and that it is the delicate task of the true physician to reduce everything to its original simplicity. Heaven knows that our great Master, Boerhaave, has solved life's problem. To me this truth is well worth the 7,000 Gulden I pay to secure it; while to you, my friends, who have travelled from distant parts of the globe in search of it, receive from me the legacy of our Master and also be, likewise, content."

The moral that this story teaches is the same eternal lesson of all time, as expressed through the medium of Biology: that not by art or artifice can health be cheaply snatched at will from the Infinite Sources of Life, but that by consistently following the guidance of Nature's Laws the healthy functions of the human organism may alone be correctly maintained, or, when driven by ill-treatment into decline, it is the rational scientific assistance we afford to the efforts of Nature, by which alone we may hope to re-establish that normal condition of health. For, in the worthy words of Wordsworth I may say: "So build we up the being that we are."

The writer does not claim for this method so great a degree of simplicity. But he does base it upon the same truth that simplicity and a return to natural conditions are the only ways of effectively healing the diseased body.

Guided by the great masters of biology and physiological chemistry, his object has been to determine the elements of which the twelve main tissues of the human body are composed and to learn in what manner these tissues suffer from the various diseases which attack them.

Were I desirous of emulating the illustrious Boerhaave, I might concentrate my work into these few words: Supply the system with the necessary constituents of its tissues and at the same time assist the organism by means of simple and natural appliances, and REGENERATION will continue until the desired physiological condition is reached.

In so doing, I fear, I should bequeath but little to the comprehension of humanity.

I desire that all shall benefit by the diligent research work of my life. I desire to leave my legacy to humankind clearly and distinctly defined, in rules carefully expressed in the Course of Study I have prepared.

I do not expect them to be accepted without controversy. Nor do I look for gratitude from those whom I seek to benefit. I have no delusions and the satisfaction of having delivered my message will be my sole reward. I can only trust in this more enlightened age, that history as poetized by Pope may not repeat itself:

"Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land? All fear, none aid you, and few understand."

My solace, even so, for the nonce would be the knowledge of life and health restored to the faithful, though, comparatively, few and the confidence that truth must, in the issue, at length prevail, convincing, victorious over all.

Before proceeding further I wish it to be distinctly understood that it is no part of my scheme or intention to seek in any way to eliminate the physician.

As there are, in fact, no two human organism exactly alike, so also is there divergence, more or less, in each individual case, in disease; and however apparently similar the symptoms may be, the knowledge and experience of a physician becomes necessary in order to determine correctly what the ailment is and how general principles should be applied in each particular case.

On the contrary, I purpose to explain fully the secret causes of disease and their removal, in pursuance of the belief held in common with fair-minded physicians the world over, that a better knowledge of the human organism and hygiene on the part of the layman, would be of equal advantage alike to physician and patient.

Drawing aside the veil from professional secrecy and allowing the patient to know the why and the wherefore of things, means positive success for my hygienic-dietetic system of healing, because it is the only system which can ultimately survive in the light of general knowledge and wisdom.

No knowledge, no precautions, will always prevent disease. It is the natural incidence of the law of cause and effect that man, collectively, cannot expect to go through life unmolested by disturbances of health. From the very outset the tendency to disease is inherited; and indeed today, although we have now learned how to combat the enemy, yet opposing hosts are seen to be so vast and strongly entrenched about us that we realize to some extent the years that must elapse before mankind can be entirely set free from his hideous heritage, the harvest sown by past ignorance, deception and neglect.

But, from the malignant evil of internecine strife Universal Good is rising with an awakened nation's cry—a cry for freedom and release from the ever-lengthening chains of pernicious interests and obsolete institutions. The moment of release is at hand: That pyschological moment of which James Russell Lowell sings:

"Once to every man and nation Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, For the good or evil side."

And knowing what the People know—they who have borne so long, in grimly impotent silence, under the guise of Freedom, the fortunes of the slave—can we for one moment doubt what view their lawful, reasoning demand for redress will take and whether or no it will prevail? The hundred million voices of the Union sternly answer: NO!

In effecting this release, so far as the Science of Healing is concerned, my system, which I claim to be entirely original, will be found particularly efficacious, for it presents plainly and convincingly, in the light of the most recent discoveries, the truth that all constitutional diseases are but the variations of one basal deficiency; that the entire art of rational healing lies in a knowledge of the component parts of the body tissues, in a determination of the tissues involved in the process of degeneration in each specific instance, and in the subsequent treatment thereof by means of supplying to the blood the elements necessary to regenerate the tissues in question.

From this brief explanation may be judged the importance of the hygienic dietetic physician in cases of sickness. The quack and charlatan it is who persuade people to believe that they do not need the physician, and compel them to pay for this belief in money and in health. It is the obvious duty of every one to seek aid in case of sickness from some physician who is a profound and professed advocate of the only sensible, practical method of treatment; but, at the same time I would make it possible for all to acquire sufficient knowledge to enable them to judge for themselves whether the attendant summoned responds in some measure to this requirement, the simple and logical course of which contains at least some ray of hope for all who suffer.

* * * * *

It may not be amiss to cite here a brief outline of the teachings of the four bright particular stars who have served as beacon lights in the history and development of medicine. Not only does the modern medical world acknowledge the doctrines of these four men as the foundation upon which the practice of healing has been raised to a science, but moreover,—a point much more important for our consideration,—it also admits that the least essential part of the work of Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine;" namely, his statement of theory, is the part which has been accorded permanent prominence, whilst the portion of greatest value in his labours; that is to say, the practical part, has been neglected and ignored.

The following passages are taken from the article entitled "History of Medicine" in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th. Edition, vol. XVIII, pages 42-51.

"Hippocrates, called the 'Father of Medicine,' lived during the age of Pericles, (495-429 B.C.), and occupied as high a position in medicine as did the great philosophers, orators, and tragedians in their respective fields.

His high conception of the duties and position of the physician and the skill with which he manipulated the materials that were at hand, constituted two important characteristics of Hippocratic medicine. Another was the recognition that disease, as well as health, is a process governed by what we call natural laws, learned by observation, and indicating the direction of recovery. These views of the 'natural history of disease' led to habits of minute observation and careful interpretation of symptoms, in which the Hippocratic school excelled and has been the model for all succeeding ages, so that even now the true method of clinical medicine may be said to be the method of Hippocrates.

One of the important doctrines of Hippocrates was the healing power of nature. He did not teach that nature was sufficient to cure disease, but he recognized a natural process of the humours, at least in acute disease, being first of all crude, then passing through coction or digestion, and finally being expelled by resolution or crisis through one of the natural channels of the body. The duty of the physician was to 'assist and not to hinder these changes, so that the sick man might conquer the disease with the help of the physician.'"

"Galen, the man from whom the greater part of modern European medicine has flowed, lived about 131 to 201 A.D. He was equipped with all the anatomical, medical, and philosophical knowledge of his time; he had studied all kinds of natural curiosities and was in close touch with important political events; he possessed enormous industry, great practical sagacity, and unbounded literary fluency. At that time there were numerous sects in the medical profession, various dogmatic systems prevailed in medical science, and the social standing of physicians was degraded. He assumed the task of reforming the existing evils and restoring the unity of medicine as it had been understood by Hippocrates, at the same time elevating the dignity of medical practitioners.

In the explanation and healing of diseases he applied the science of physiology. His theory was based upon the Hippocratic doctrine of humours, but he developed it with marvelous ingenuity. He advocated that the normal condition of the body depended upon a proper proportion of the four elements, hot, cold, wet and dry. The faulty proportions of the same gave rise, not to disease, but to the occasions for disease. He laid equal stress upon the faulty composition or dysaemia of the blood. He claimed that all diseases were due to a combination of these morbid predispositions, together with injurious external influences, and thus explained all symptoms and all diseases. He found a name for every phenomenon and a solution for every problem. And though it was precisely in this characteristic that he abandoned scientific methods and practical utility, it was also this quality that gained for him his popularity and prominence in the medical world.

However, his reputation grew slowly. His opinions were in opposition to those of other physicians of his time. In the succeeding generation he won esteem as a philosopher, and it was only gradually that his system was accepted implicitly. It enjoyed great, though not exclusive predominance until the fall of Roman civilization."

"Thomas Sydenham, (1624-1689) was well acquainted with the works of the ancient physicians and had a fair knowledge of chemistry. Whether he had any knowledge of anatomy is not definitely known. He advocated the actual study of disease in an impartial manner, discarding all hypothesis. He repeatedly referred to Hippocrates in his medical methods, and he has quite deservedly been styled the English Hippocrates. He placed great stress on the 'natural history of disease,' just as did his Greek master, and likewise attached great importance to 'epidemic constitution,' that is, the influence of weather and other natural causes on the process of disease. He believed in the healing power of nature to an even greater degree than did Hippocrates. He claimed that disease was nothing more than an effort on the part of nature to restore the health of the patient by the elimination of the morbific matter.

The reform of practical medicine was effected by men who advocated the rejection of all hypothesis and the impartial study of natural processes, as shown in health and disease. Sydenham showed that these natural processes could be studied and dealt with without being explained, and, by laying stress on facts and disregarding explanations, he introduced a method in medicine far more fruitful than any discoveries. Though the dogmatic spirit continued to live for a long time, the reign of standard authority had passed."

"Boerhaave. In the latter part of the seventeenth century a physician arose (1668-1738) who was destined to become far more prominent in the medical world than any of the English physicians of the age of Queen Anne, though he differed but little from them in his way of thinking. This was Hermann Boerhaave. For many years he was professor of medicine at Leyden, and excelled in influence and reputation not only his greatest forerunners, Montanus of Padua and Sylvius of Leyden, but probably every subsequent teacher. The Hospital of Leyden became the centre of medical influence in Europe. Many of the leading English physicians of the 18th century studied there. Boerhaave's method of teaching was transplanted to Vienna through one of his pupils, Gerard Van Swieten, and thus the noted Vienna school of medicine was founded.

The services of Boerhaave to the progress of medicine can hardly be overestimated. He was the organizer and almost the constructor of the modern method of clinical instruction. He followed the methods of Hippocrates and Sydenham in his teachings and in his practice. The points of his system that are best known are his doctrines of inflammation, obstruction, and 'plethora.' In the practice of medicine he aimed to make use of all the anatomical and physiological acquisitions of his age, including microscopical anatomy.

In this respect he differed from Sydenham, for the latter paid but little more attention to modern medicine than to ancient dogma. In some respects he was like Galen, but again differed from him, as he did not wish to reduce his knowledge to any definite system. He spent much time in studying the medical classics, though he valued them from an historical standpoint rather than from an authoritative standpoint. It would almost seem that the great task of Boerhaave's life a combination of ancient and modern medicine, could not be of any real permanent value, and the same might be said of his Aphorisms, in which he gave a summary of the results of his long experience. And yet it is an indisputable fact that his contributions to the science of medicine form one of the necessary factors in the construction of modern medicine."

* * * * *

These extracts represent the principles of that bright constellation of Master Minds who have gone before us and guided our footsteps through tedious and tentative wanderings into the pathway of Truth. May their undoubting, united testimony act as a reassuring, convincing influence which will carry the reader back to the very fountain head of Medical jurisprudence, through the medium of the Encyclopedia Britannica, the highest accepted authority and criterion of authenticity in the English speaking world; for, at the same time it will also provide a positive and perfect safeguard and assurance of the solid basis and absolute authenticity of my methods and teachings besides indicating definitely the source and direction whence they are derived and establishing their classical trend and legitimate purpose.



SYSTEM OF REGENERATION

In order to bring the entire system of regeneration under review, I shall here endeavour to present in condensed form all the essential points in my teachings. The reader will thus be enabled to picture to himself his body, with its vital organs, clearly as in a mirror; he will become familiarized with its composition and twelve principal tissues, as well as with the sixteen elements of which they consist.

Man is a unit, and the human body an accumulation of millions of separate cells, which are centres of life and which, in different groupings and combinations, form the various organs that render existence possible.

This existence is the natural sequel of the existence of former human beings. They generated the life that is to be transferred by us to other living beings.

The several functions of the organism combine to form a chain of activities in which there must not be a single link missing, if life is to continue.

These activities are comprised within an accumulation of cells which are by no means stationary, for life means nothing more than the constant dying, of the old cells and the reconstruction of the new. It means that the human body as a whole is continually in a state of composition and decomposition.

Not until the accumulation of cells we call the body is recognized as one complete correlated and inseparable entity and the absolute interdependence of the separate cells, each one upon the others, is likewise accepted as the verified fact that it is—not until then will the erroneous and obsolete idea be discarded, by which the various organs of the body have been professionally treated as separate and independent considerations, even to the extent of being dealt with, in cases of disease, as totally aloof from one another and conveniently classed as proper subjects for submission to the expert opinion of that superior class of physicians who devote their attention exclusively to special organs and are accordingly termed "Specialists."

Thus the question arises: What is the cause of disease? The question does not apply to any one particular form of disease or class of diseases, but to disease generally, as a concrete term meaning any disorder which may manifest itself by individual disturbances in the body; for such disturbance is but a variation in quantity or quality of one general disturbance, a variation in the mechanism that controls the work of keeping the existing cells in proper condition and replacing those cells which are constantly being destroyed. It is a variation in the process of regeneration, which we term life.

METABOLISM is the process which is constantly going on in the human system, whereby the cells that have been consumed by oxidation are removed through the excreta—the faeces, the urine, the perspiration, and the exhalations from the lungs—to be replaced by new ones.

Metabolism, means change of matter. It signifies the course by which nutritive material, or food, is built up into living matter. This process is accomplished through the blood, which distributes the necessary material to all parts of the body where cells need to be replaced and carries away the consumed portions.

In the marvelous performance of its functions, when properly supplied, it carries the elements that are essential to regeneration in the correct proportions. When not properly supplied, these proportions become incorrect and foreign formations may arise which are disturbing to the organism.

In nature there is a constant tendency to counterbalance disturbances in the proper proportion and by distribution of cell building material to restore the normal condition. We may thus speak of the overwhelmingly curative tendency of nature.

Metabolism is the function of the body which most constantly requires attention. So, therefore, it is always through the blood that we must assist nature in the process of counterbalancing and rectifying or healing abnormal conditions.

It follows then, that, despite the apparent variety in constitutional diseases, they are all practically the same. They are all disturbances of metabolism through some irregularity in the quantitative or qualitative condition of the blood.

Professor Jacob Moleschott, the great physiologist, has crystallized this truth in the immortal words: "One of the principal questions to be always asked of the physician is this: How may good healthy and active blood be obtained? View the question as we may, we shall be forced to acknowledge openly and explicitly or guardedly and indirectly that our volition, our sensations, our strength, and our pro-creative powers are dependent upon our blood and our blood upon our nutrition."

If such unity exists, why then the great difference in the human organs? How is it that a bone in its stonelike hardness is essentially the same as the exquisitely sensitive eye?

This is owing to the adaptive property of the cells, in the course of their enormous accumulation, to different functions, which, again, depends upon the varied arrangement of the constituent elements. These elements all find lodgement in the blood, and are carried by it in necessary quantities to the points where they are needed to assist the organs in replacing consumed matter.

The difficulty found in grasping this idea of unity has led to the most momentous errors in modern medical science.

One result has been the undue attention paid to the study of anatomy, insomuch that the different organs are regarded as wholly distinct groups of cells. This is convenient from a descriptive standpoint, but it tends too much to draw attention away from the source of life, and of health. Only by noting the common characteristics of the cell accumulations termed organs, are we enabled to supply the necessary elements that may be lacking. And thus we arrive at the subject of the chemical analysis of the human body and its various organs, a subject that has been badly neglected throughout the centuries.

It has been determined that the entire human body consists of a certain number of chemical elements, appearing in different aggregations in different parts. These aggregations repeating themselves in the various organs.

Twelve principal aggregations of chemical elements have been established and designated by the term tissues.

This fact led to the discovery of the truth that in the process of healing attention must be given, not to the various organs, but to the various tissues.

These tissues are dependent directly upon the condition and contents of the blood, whose office it is to nourish them and which exhibits the wonderful property of conveying to each tissue its selective regenerative materials, provided of course, that these elements are present at the time in the blood.

Sixteen definite elements have been established—and a seventeenth will probably soon be added thereto—which, in their various combinations and aggregations, form the different tissues of which the organs in the human body are composed.

The prevalence of one or several of these elements in a certain tissue forms the main or governing feature of that tissue. Thus, the prevalence of potassium phosphate characterizes muscle tissue, the prevalence of ammonium phosphate (lecithin) nerve tissue. Each one of the various tissues consists of certain of these elements, and each tissue at every point where it occurs is affected by the lack of any of its elements.

One of the greatest physiological chemists, Justus von Liebig, maintains that, if one of the necessary elements in a chemical composition is missing, the rest cannot fulfill their duties and the respective cells must become diseased and degenerate.

This discovery, known as "the law of the minimum," has thrown additional light upon the tasks before the new school of medicine.

Upon the basis of a careful diagnosis, the necessary nutritive salts or cell-foods, carefully compounded in accordance with the law of chemotaxis must be administered. This law discovered by Engelmann, requires that these cell-foods must be administered in digestible and assimilable forms so that the cells will be attracted by the chemical reaction, which may be of a positive or a negative character.

This being so, we can easily build up the tissues, by studying their chemical composition and supplying to the system that which is necessary, in the form of food. The cell will take care of the rest. Each tissue has its specific cell-system, and each cell will be attracted only by those ingredients which are needed for the mother tissue.

To bring to a tissue through the blood the lacking constituent element or elements is the only means of regenerating and healing diseased cells.

In this connection we are considering only constitutional diseases.

It has been shown that the lack of certain chemical elements from the blood signifies disease and that the variety of the disease depends on which of the elements are either lacking entirely or are present in incorrect proportion.

After this lack has been determined, the course to pursue in curing the disease is to supply the lacking chemical elements in the form of concentrated cell-food in addition to the regular food.

This method displaces entirely the old system of filling the body with poisonous drugs in order to counteract the effects of the disease. Such a system may suppress the symptoms by benumbing the nerves and preventing pain, it may counteract the natural process of healing of which inflammation, fever and pain, are the outward manifestations;—but it can never cure.

The discovery of dysaemia, or impaired blood supply, as the governing cause of disease, has destroyed another idol of modern fetish worship in medicine.

Since the discovery of various species of bacilli, which accompany nearly every form of disease in some form or other, these have been commonly declared to be the causes of diseases, and the tendency is to find some poison that will kill the bacilli in order to cure the disease.

The bacillus, on the contrary, is only the consequence, or symptom, of a disease. The diseased and decomposing parts furnish fertile soil suitable to the propagating of bacilli because of the lack of the normal chemical elements in the blood and tissue. But to kill them, while the underlying conditions for their reproduction remain unchanged, can, obviously, never effect a cure. So the great hopes that have attached to sero-therapy are doomed to disappointment, and the application of anti-toxins prepared from the serum of animals, are fated shortly to vanish in the wake of others of those strange temporary crazes which periodically obsess mankind for a while and pass away.

The discovery that a dysaemic condition of the blood leads to certain destructive processes termed diseases, was soon followed by the apprehension that one of the principal factors in bringing about such disturbance is predisposition,—in many cases heredity.

The term "Hereditary disease" signifies that the improper chemical composition of the blood of one or both parents is transmitted to the offspring, and that it causes in them likewise a degeneration of certain tissues and of the organs composed of those tissues.

The hygienic-dietetic system of healing does not, however, regard heredity as an invincible enemy, especially since my discovery of the "Law of the Cross-Transmission of Characteristics."

It is in the solution of this problem of "hereditary disease" that my system will eventually come into its own and will ere long be recognized as the most rational and effectual therapy ever applied since the beginning of the art of healing. It may be years before it is accorded the proverbially tardy acknowledgment of the "orthodox" schools, but that it will, nay must be eventually adopted is virtually a foregone conclusion—that is, if it be indeed the function or policy of the physician of the future to adequately seek to succour the suffering and regenerate the races of mankind. Of the physician of the present it can at best be said in Goethe's incisive words:

"Er halt die Theile in seiner Hand, Doch fehlt ihm leider das gelst' ge Band."

He holds the parts within his hand, But lacks the mental grasp of all.

For full explanation of the significance of my law, I must refer you to the first lecture in my book entitled "Within the Bud,"—and the lesson therein on the theory of "Pangenesis," which space forbids my repeating here. This lesson will convey conclusively to any thinking mind what heredity really means. After a brief study of this interesting subject the importance of the "Law of the Cross-Transmission of Characteristics" will become amply apparent and the intelligent reader will undoubtedly wonder why it has not been applied and acknowledged long ago. For answer, I must refer you to the schools, whose policy it has ever been to, at any rate, abstain from assisting, if not absolutely to diplomatically hinder the development of fresh scientific discoveries. But the time is fast approaching when a sharp and decisive end to this iniquity will be demanded by the will of an enlightened people; only then will the existing orthodox power be compelled to loosen its obstructive grip which the interests of humanity have, so far, been powerless to unclasp. But, to quote the stirring words of one who looked with prophetic, faithful eye into the tangled problems of futurity:

"The people will come into their own at last,— God is not mocked for ever."

My Law of the Cross-Transmission of Characteristics may be simply stated as follows:

Under all conditions, the matter of sex is determined in the egg-cell at the moment of fertilization.

Under all conditions, the sex is determined by a struggle for the mastery in the egg-cell, between the energy of that egg-cell and the energy of the male spermatozoon. In a crisis, when the life of one of the two seeds is trembling in the balance, one of them—through the exertion of its "Latent Reserve Energy," dominates, and engenders a child of the opposite sex. This reversal of the sex is in conformity with the Law of the Cross-Transmission of Sex; that is, the mother is represented in the male offspring and the father in the female,—this being the normal expression of the Law of Cross-Transmission of Characteristics.

The "Latent Reserve Energy" is provided by nature for the "Preservation of Species," and through this provision an impulsive, vehement energy can, at the final moment of a crisis, be called upon for the salvation of its kind.

A seeming exception to this is due to the "Law of the Dominant" which overrides the action of "Latent Reserve Energy," and is a provision of nature for the preservation of the "Dominant," which is the most prominent quality in nature.

When the subject is properly understood, this seeming exception will also become clear.

In the natural course, the study of heredity leads to the understanding of predisposition. In other words, if you have understood heredity, it will be easy to understand predisposition; for it means that the protoplasm or seed, from whichever organism it may proceed, must contain some of the salient characteristics of its ancestors, good and bad, dominant and recessive. Not only will it contain characteristics from father and mother, but from all the direct ancestors. It is impossible to know exactly which points will manifest themselves, but a good many bad points may be eliminated by studying the ancestral line; and the direct diseases or bad characteristics of a parent, must be eliminated by applying the Law of the Cross-Transmission of Characteristics.

For example: If the father has a certain disease or positive symptoms of that disease, by no means create a girl, as she will certainly be predisposed for that disease, and may pay the penalty, if "Regeneration" is not begun early. The same principle applies to the mother. If she is diseased, do not create a son, until "Regeneration" has been brought about.

Furthermore, it will be possible to improve the offspring by encouraging and promoting the good points, especially after studying and applying the above law, as well as my law of the "Determination of the Sex at Will."

Looking at the question from this point of view, we begin to realize the enormous significance of my discovery. This supplies the main reason for the study of the laws, for the "Prevention of Diseases."

Only when we know that every acquired characteristic may be transmitted to the offspring will we become conscious of the terrible responsibility we assume when we reproduce offspring, and realize that we may create more pain and suffering instead of eliminating it.

As Nature demands that we reproduce ourselves or be punished for disobeying her laws, what is to be done?

Study and follow the advice given in this book, and you will awake to the fact that Nietsche's words were not "Utopian" when he commanded us to "reproduce something better than we are."

Together with the predisposition to disease, the child also acquires the hereditary tendency to regeneration; and thus rational hygienic-dietetic treatment may be able to eliminate the diseases which were formerly pronounced incurable. This can only be effected by the effort to remove the cause and strengthen the weak points by means of Regeneration.

The reader will now plainly understand that in order to heal, according to the hygienic-dietetic system, the blood must be supplied with the chemical elements that are missing from the tissues.

There are three ways of accomplishing this; namely, by diet, by nutritive preparations, and by physical treatment.

The first and most natural way is by means of proper diet.

Since the chemical elements are introduced into the body through the food, the quantity and quality of the food must be regulated. The patient must receive food that will help in regenerating his blood; particularly such food as contains the elements that are lacking in the affected tissues in his body.

The regular supply of food is however usually insufficient to overcome the process of destruction, and it is therefore necessary to add the missing elements in purer form and larger quantity. These nutritive preparations contain only such chemical elements as exist in the human body; they also contain them in the proper chemical proportion and are entirely free from poisonous substances. They promote a general regeneration of the blood that will eventually lead to a complete cure.

Physical treatment may be made to assist the proper circulation of the blood, opening at the same time the pores of the skin for the withdrawal from the body of disease elements and the introduction of desirable material. Massage, gymnastics, ablutions, and various kinds of baths and packs constitute the most of the healing measures of this description resorted to.

This is indeed the legitimate field for Osteo-Chyropractice.

In order to understand the method of treatment which I apply, it is necessary to understand one of the great laws of physiological chemistry, acknowledged as such by the great masters of chemistry, such as Liebig and Hensel.

This law demonstrates that nature is a unit, its component parts a given number of elements, each of which has distinct qualities, and the combination of which produces the various manifestations of life.

These elements are classified as combining to form minerals, plants and animals. They are all closely interrelated. The plant draws the mineral elements from the soil, and after certain processes of combination, conveys them as food to the animal. The animal substances that man consumes make up the balance of the elements that are required to build up the human body.

It is a matter of comparatively new discovery that the minerals are just as important a part of the human body and of its food as the other basic chemical elements. The discovery showing of what minerals the necessary ingredients of the different body tissues are composed and in what combination and quantity, in order that they may become incorporated into the organism, has made it possible to supply them to the diseased body in the purest and most effective way through nutritive preparations, while their existence in food also furnishes an indication as to the regulation of diet.

I have already given, in the preceding pages, the frank expression of favourable opinion upon this vital topic generally, as voiced with unmistakable, conviction by no less an authority than Assistant Surgeon-General, Dr. W.C. Rucker of the United States Public Health Service. I will now cite, in further corroboration, the opinion of the distinguished Editor of "The Fra," as addressed to myself personally, in special relation to an advance section of the book "Dare to be Healthy," together with other similar matter, and which, coming as it does from one who is himself a leader in the van of the advancing phalanx of the followers of Truth and Enlightenment, may be safely held to constitute a just criterion of the literary and technical value of the work. It is expressed as follows:

From John T. Hoyle, Managing Editor of "The Fra."

"From my reading of your 'Lessons,' and especially from 'Dare to be Healthy,' I can see that you have evolved a new concept in medicine, or rather 'Nature Healing,' which promises great results. I trust you will be able to put the whole into a printed book that we may all have the benefit of your discoveries. Unlike most physicians, while you treat of the most profound and vital scientific subjects, your language is so well chosen and your method of presentation is so clear, that no intelligent person would have difficulty in following your thought. You have undertaken a monumental work, and that success may attend your efforts is our heartfelt wish."

From Elbert Hubbard.

"What I have read of it is intensely interesting and shows that you have a keen insight into the philosophies of life."

There are other spontaneous and unexpected testimonials of an equally encouraging and complimentary nature from men whose knowledge and attainments entitle their opinions to the tribute of respect. These might well be likewise added here, but for the necessary limitations of space.

When Moses saved the hosts of Israel from starvation in the desert, by obtaining the solid and liquid food requisite for their deliverance, he called the name of that food "Manna." in like manner, both as a just tribute to the success they have achieved in the past and as an earnest of the deliverance they are destined to achieve in the future, I have designated my preparations by a similar term and called them the "Dech-Manna" Nutritive Preparations.

Although presented in so condensed a form, the preceding outline cannot fail to inspire in the mind of the reader a vivid conception of the simple grandeur of nature's handiwork, more especially as regards her provisions in relation to health and disease—secrets revealed, through microscope and alembic, to those who, in spite of organized discouragement, have attempted to fathom the erstwhile mysteries of human suffering and to carry hope and freedom into the hostile camps of Fear, Disease and Death.

To bring these considerations within the comprehension of all, and to win all, so far as possible, to the practical observance of the means and precepts of Health and Safety is the object of the projected course of study of which the following is the business proposition.



THE DARE TO BE HEALTHY CLUB

BUSINESS PROPOSITION

The course of study in connection with the above consists of

A SERIES OF ONE HUNDRED LESSONS

to be issued in weekly instalments, the whole course to extend over a period of two years.

Each lesson will consist, approximately, of some twenty-two to twenty-five full-sized pages (i.e. 25/28 lines of 8/12 words each) which will be mailed to every subscriber weekly prepaid.

It is necessary, in view of contingent expenses that a membership of One thousand subscribers should be obtained, as only when such an amount of support is guaranteed would the printing of the hundred lectures under the easy and advantageous terms offered be at all justified.

If, however, it should be represented to me by those most immediately interested, that it is their desire to Confine the Club to narrower limits, I might, though with some reluctance, consider the advisability of reducing the minimum membership to One hundred students provided that these should agree to contribute the sum total of the fees for the two years course in advance.

With every twentieth lesson will be forwarded to the subscriber, gratis, one of five well bound volumes of superior literary attraction and interest.

These five volumes are as follows:

ATLAS OF HUMAN ANATOMY (profusely illustrated with coloured plates and containing folding manikin) especially compiled for the student.

MANUAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, especially compiled for the student.

MANUAL OF PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY, especially compiled for the student.

MANUAL OF BIOLOGICAL THERAPY, Dechmann's system, (500 pages).

MEDICAL DICTIONARY (pocket edition in flexible leather with gilt edges, giving 30,000 definitions.)

At the end of the course each student in good standing, will receive free of cost a Membership Diploma in the form of a beautifully artistic colour plate, the facsimile of which will appear herewith.

"Within the Bud; the Procreation of a Healthy, Happy, and Beautiful Child of the Desired Sex, by L. Dechmann, Biologist." This is a book of 302 pages, the paper bound edition retailing at $3.00, the edition de luxe at $5.00, can be obtained at any book store or direct from the author.

The above literature cannot be otherwise procured, and its cost actually amounts to nearly one-half the subscription for the entire course of lessons.

At the close of the course a beautiful engraved cover design for binding the 100 lessons may be obtained at the price of $1.00.

Separate file binders and perforators for the lessons, each cover holding some 300 pages, may be obtained at the nominal cost of about 50 cents each; one of these will be delivered free with the first lesson.

CELL-FOODS.

In addition to these advantages, all members of the Club will be entitled to procure any supplies they may need of the Dech-Manna Cell-Foods at special (wholesale) prices.

LOUIS DECHMANN.

Biologist and Physiological Chemist. 127 North 59th Street, Seattle, Wash., U.S.A.



THE BASIS OF PROCEEDINGS of THE DARE TO BE HEALTHY CLUB

In the ensuing pages I shall endeavour to give the reader a necessarily brief and cursory, glance into the subjects which will form the underlying motif of the vast and manifold deliberations which will constitute the fundamental basis of the projected course of study which will be brought under the consideration of the members of the proposed association and will constitute the schedule, as it were, of the periodical dissertations of these matters of world-wide and vital individual significance to be comprised in the Series of One Hundred Lessons.