The general health of the patient apart from the distressing symptom described was excellent, strange to say. And to this a strong constitution and robust physique in large part contributed. Perhaps, as is at times assumed, the channel taken by nature to rid the body of toxic matter, if sufficiently extensive, precluded the development of other and differing symptoms of disease. This has been held to have been proved in instances of syphilitic infection, which in the majority of cases seems to grant immunity from minor though equally infectious disease, the latter being subordinated to the dominant blood taint.

When first under observation the patient weighed 172 pounds, and her habits were those of a woman in comfortable circumstances with the idea ingrained that three and even four generous daily meals were necessary for the conservation of health and strength. She was, however, disheartened and discouraged because of the almost unbearable distress occasioned by the state of her body, and, as a last resort only, she consented to undergo a fast.

After three weeks of preparation, abstinence from food succeeded and continued without interruption for seventy-five days. At no time during this period was anything excepting water ingested, and at no time was the patient unable to cover on foot the distance from her home to the office of her physician. Once this subject had grasped the philosophy of the method and had experienced the progressive improvement that marked her case, an excellent physical organization and a determined will made her more than equal to the attainment of the object in view, and, as a consequence, she was easy to treat.

The fast was typical and was remarkable in nothing save its length, a phenomenon due again to the extreme resistance which is always discovered in the normally functioning body. Loss in weight not unusual, and at the end of the fast a diminution in this respect of but 32 pounds was noted, the patient then tipping the scales at 140. Until the twentieth day, there was in evidence slightly lowered temperature and pulse, with some chilliness, but, while pulse and temperature remained below register in the early stages of abstinence, by the sixth week normal had been reached. The enemas contained solid feces until about one-third of the fasting period had elapsed, and thereafter, until the last week without food, large amounts of yellowish-white mucus formed part of the discharge. This catarrhal refuse eliminated thus from the intestines indicated that the eliminative function had again been established through normal channels. In fact, a significant feature connected with any symptom of disease of the character expressed in this subject is the failure of function through normal avenues other than the skin to perform, the surface of the body suffering from overwork and disease in consequence.

It was not until the fourth week that visible improvement in exudation from the open sores became noticeable in respect to granulation, although the exudation had begun to diminish during the third week and at this time also the itching had greatly subsided. As healing of the sores progressed, the unpleasant minor symptoms disappeared, healthy skin soon forming in patches that increased in size and gradually covered the denuded spaces.

After breaking the fast, general health continued excellent, and the sole remaining signs of the psoriasis were the scarred edges surrounding areas latest to heal. Even these in time vanished, and no trace, excepting slight discoloration, the result of previous mercurial treatment, was left as a reminder of the hideous and distressful malady of previous years.

While the patient during the first few days of the fast felt some trepidation as to its efficacy and its outcome, after improvement of the condition appeared, its psychological effect was such that her determination to carry on to the return of hunger became fixed. Again it is to be noted that fear enters and disaster results while fasting a functional case only when the method is incorrectly conducted. This case is a supreme example demonstrating the truth that, in the absence of organic disease, there is no danger whatever in abstaining from food until nature asserts by the return of hunger that systemic purification is completed.

Another case presents itself--that of a woman thirty-four years old, partially paralyzed and suffering from general functional disease. In this patient two of the dorsal vertebrae had been displaced in early life in such manner as to compress the spinal cord, thus causing paralysis of the lower trunk and legs. In the absence of any history of accident the only tenable theory of causation of this condition is that of lack of development of the muscles supporting the spine in the dorsal region, this in turn due to faulty nutrition in youth. In all her life this woman had never known a moment of comparative health, and intermittently in earlier days severe fevers with inflammatory intestinal symptoms had occurred, eventually creating contractions in the colon, a condition that caused constipation and consequent septicemia. When first examined, the case had been bedridden for one year, and it was evident that by reason of the very evident ankylosis existing in the displaced vertebrae referred to there was small hope of correcting the paralysis noted. The symptom that impelled the employment of means other than medicine for relief in this case was an ominous congestive chill from which the woman with difficulty rallied. The fast was entered and carried to what may be regarded as a successful end after fifty-eight days of abstinence.

The medical history of this case showed an inherited tendency towards scrofula or constitutional tuberculosis, and there had been manifested at intervals offensive running sores, the thumb and index finger of the left hand having been amputated some years previous because of a non-healing scrofulous abscess. All of the ulcers that had appeared had, without exception, been diagnosed by attending physicians as tubercular in character and had been treated from the medical viewpoint accordingly.