The primary cause is so evidently the general state of the body that here is pretty good evidence that body changes precede the slowing down of bowel action, and that whatever of increased auto' intoxication follows after this is dependent only secondarily on the constipation.

Constipation, colitis, diarrhoeas, hemorrhoids, itching of the anus, all are evidences of the toxic character of the contents of the colon, and all are curable by sterilizing this foul cesspool and afterward keeping it up to date.

If one were to eat only of fruits and vegetables for a time, after the colon is once emptied of its decaying load, it would then be safe to wait till voluntary movement of the bowels occurred, as there would be nothing retained that could cause harmful absorption, and there would be accumulated a sufficient residue of cellulose so that the colon would become fairly full of this, and have a sufficient bulk on which the muscular coat of the colon could act easily and reestablish muscular contractions.

No doubt the usual constipation is greatly aggravated, and possibly largely caused, by the use of so much food that leaves behind little or no cellulose residue, as white flour or white sugar preparations, meats or clear muscle cuts or eggs or milk, as the colon cannot act on nothing, and the foods with little or no residue will leave nothing for the colon to do, so the accumulating wastes there are putrefying further with each day's retention, still further weakening the colon structure till a well developed constipation may arise from a rather short period on just these foods alone.

Vegetables and fruits have a heavy structure of cellulose, which is wholly indigestible, fibre, the bulk of the food of the vegetarian animals, and it is surely of value to eat these vegetables and fruits for this reason if it were not for the far more important reason that they give us the chemical ingredients of which the body stands daily in need.

It is largely by means of certain of these chemicals that elimination is made possible, just as all function depends chiefly on the degree of alkalinity due to the presence of these necessary alkalin chemicals, so their loss from the refined foods, together with the paucity of cellulose fibre, must be a very large factor in the creation of torpid colon, or constipation.

Keeping in mind then that back of constipation is digestive and general enervation, you can easily see that cure must include a revitalizing of the body, a return to a more vital way of eating and living, and cure is never anything else than this in any condition that is abnormal.

So the means necessary to cure any disease are those necessary to cure constipation, plus the enema till this return of vitality can have time to materialize.

Probably more ingenuity has been expended in seeking for means to make the bowels move than on any other phase of ill health or of abnormal bodily conditions.

Drugs of every conceivable action have been used and recommended by eminent authority. Sand has been eaten by the ton, literally. Bran has had almost universal glory as a means toward this same end. Neutral and bulky oils have recently had great regard. Rectal dilatation has been recommended by many. Yet constipation remains today one of the most universal handicaps of the race, and furnishes by far the most profitable field for the sale of drugs, perhaps rather closely approached in this respect by pain relievers of the aspirin type for headaches and neuralgias dependent largely for direct cause on this very same constipation.

Recall again that everything absorbed goes straight to the liver, and is it difficult to see the connection between putrid states of the colon contents and liver or gall-bladder disease?

These get well so easily when the colon is flushed daily and thoroughly that this still further illustrates the intimate connection here and further impresses on us the necessity for a toilette of the colon that is as regular as the face bath.

Teachers have so often reported that when in school and under the strain of teaching they always develop constipation, and that when on vacation they are not so bothered, that it impresses again the intimate nerve connection between function and nerve cause.

Anything that depletes nerve energy, or that diverts it greatly to other uses, is a cause of lowered function, not more so and not leas of the colon than of the stomach in the digestion of food.

So it is necessary to conserve nerve force, to avoid its dissipation through great nerve stresses, or fatigue, or too great concentration of the mind, or loss of sleep, or any other cause that can vitiate our nerve force or impair it in any way.

Bran is so generally considered harmless as a stimulant to bowel action that it is timely again to warn that even bran serves as a stimulant to this lazy colonic function merely through the irritation of the lining membrane of the colon, and like all other irritations the colon becomes accustomed to it, and like all stimulants its use is followed by a compensatory reaction, so that it is never to be recommended as an aid to better movements of the bowels.

When it can no longer secure the activity because of this adaptation of the colon membrane to the irritation, then it tends to accumulate in the colon, and the danger of impaction is just around the corner.

Then truly the last state of that man is worse than the first, for it is hard to stimulate the colon further, and too long retention of any distending mass weakens the colon and it is hard to recover from such a handicap.

Aside from a bulky diet of fruits and vegetables there seems to be nothing that can be used by mouth that is of any aid to failing colonic function, for everything else has been tried and found wanting, so the first step looking toward cure of the constipation will have to be foods that leave a bulky residue, such as fruits and vegetables, a source of exercise for the colon, and that also give up salts that enter into all eliminative function, and add to this the enema used in the way suggested till this function again becomes well established.

There can be no harm from such treatment, and the fact of nearly universal recovery of normal colon tone through such means and in a reasonably short time, is the very best proof that it is effective, as well as harmless.

A further description of the proper enema will perhaps be necessary for those who have had no experience with this means of emptying the colon.

The best position is usually the so-called knee-chest position, on the bath room rug.

Get down on the knees, stoop forward till the head rests on the floor, insert the well lubricated tip of the enema outfit, then lower the chest as close to the floor as possible, thus giving the water a down hill direction on entering the rectum.

Eighty degrees F. is a very good temperature for the water at first, afterward lowering this as far down as comfortable, seventy degrees or less, when the body has become accustomed to the eighty degrees so that it does not seem cool any longer.

The juice of a lemon added to the three quarts of water will increase the effect of this, and really goes far toward sterilizing the colon.

Release the compression on the tube and allow the water to flow slowly into the rectum, with the bag or container not more than three feet above the hips, to avoid a too great pressure and too rapid flow of the water.

When the pain becomes severe, as it will at first, pinch the tube and wait a few moments before admitting any more water, perhaps massaging the abdomen somewhat at the same time.

Admit a little more, or till the point of extreme tolerance is reached, then if not much water has been taken it will be better to evacuate this, and when easy of pain start all over again, till in a few days three quarts can be injected at one time without great pain.

Two weeks of three quart enema is usually sufficient to insure that the colon has been completely emptied, and to one who has not before had the experience there is a surprise in store, for the amount of ancient material unloaded is truly astonishing.

After continuing the three-quart quantity for two weeks the amount may now be reduced to two quarts, at the same time lowering the temperature to seventy degrees if this is not uncomfortable, and continuing this daily two-quart enema till returning colon tone produces voluntary stools before the usual time for the enema, at least one such every day for a long enough time to resemble fixed habit, two weeks or more.

Then when the enema is discontinued there will be two or more stools a day, which will grow under proper diet to a stool after each meal.

Seize on this opportunity to create a fixed habit of a stool after each meal, by going to the closet after each meal and sitting quietly and soliciting a stool, and in a rather short time this will become a habit and will secure a free stool within a very short time after sitting down.

Nothing less than this is normal action, and if man were subject to a different set of laws he might hope for a special dispensation of Providence in his favor in this respect, but Mother Nature does not play favorites, and man has to continue to abide by the same general laws as do all flesh if he wishes to escape punishment for their infraction.

The universal rule of the animal world is a movement soon after eating, not occasionally, but always, if such animal is normal, the entrance of food into the stomach starting a peristaltic wave that is the natural source of this movement, the body emptying the tract for the oncoming meal.

Nothing less than this is natural, and nothing less will save man from this secondary source of infection through a deficient colon action.

The means are not hard, and any one can stand the task.