Cure of disease simplified

Front matter

BRARY OF CONGRESS,

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Cure of Disease Simplified.

Chapter I. Painless Childbirth

Painless Childbirth Prophesied Fifty Years Ago by the Most Eminent Physicians — What Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton Says — Grandeur of Motherhood — Advantages of a Mixed Diet — Abrupt Changes should be Avoided — Animal Food a Matter of Education — Diet for the Excessively Lean or Fat — Excessive Appetites should be Controlled — Practice of Deep Breathing During Months of Gestation — A System Born of Nature — No Exhaustion After Delivery — Deep Breathing Produces Pressure without Pain — Age no Hindrance to an Easy and Natural Delivery — Dawning of a Happy Era for Motherhood — Fear in the Mind of Patient or Physician Must be Avoided — Criminals made in the Womb — Music During Pregnancy — A Word to Husbands — Wife's Privacy should be Sacred During Pregnancy. 1-38

Chapter II. Education Of Infants

A Prey to Wayward Influence — Infant Mind not a Blank — Contact with the Mother the Foundation of Every Future Idea — How to Bathe the Baby — Unsightly Objects should be Kept from View. . . . 39-43

Chapter III. Care Of Children During Dentition

Duties of Motherhood — Our Modern System of Education — A few Simple Medicines for Common Ailments — An Ounce of Prevention Worth a Pound of Cure — Simple

CONTENTS. V

PAGE

and Nutritious Foods — Proper Clothing — Care of the Feet — Prevalence of Weakness of the Bladder Among Children — A Mother's Impressions Generally a Safe Guide — Fine Intuitions Belong More Especially to Woman — Dentition not Complete until Second Teeth Have Appeared 43-49

Chapter IV. Hints On Digestion

The Food we Eat — Common Belief that the Stomach Contains Bile — Quantity of Food Taken — Intervals between Meals should be Regulated by the Character of the Food 50-56

Chapter V. Air As Food

Invaluable Experience of Mr. Washburn — Twenty-five Years' Experience Breathing Extra Quantities of Air — Extra Breathing as a Cure for Consumption — Lungs Robbed of their Natural Food — Elemental Substances known to Exist in Nature — The Air Contains Every Constituent Necessary to Preserve the Life Forces — Science of Chemistry Outwitted in Many Kitchens — Experience in Australia — Forty-three Days' Fast without loss of Flesh — Science Calls for Facts — Another Lesson in a New Field — Infinite Range of Nature's Forces. 56-87

Chapter VI

Skin Subject to Abuse — The Waste of the Body Principally Carbon — Respiration of the Earth Worm. 88-92

Chapter VII. Change Of Life

A Few Simple Rules — Nature Primitive in Her Operations

VI CONTENTS.

PAGE

Abnormal Growths — Women do not Understand their Systems— Listen to the Voice of Nature — Twenty- Four Hours' Rest from Eating — Diet During the Change — Elevate the Spirit and the Body will Grow Strong — Value of Deep Breathing — Benefit of Hot Baths at this Period — Possibility of Being as Young at Fifty as at Fifteen — Nature Plants in us the Higher Reason — Age is in the Mind, not the Body — Refinement Implies Power — Beautiful Thoughts from Prentice Mulford— Great Possibilities in Nature — Change of Life in Man as Critical as in Woman. . . 92-113

Chapter VIII. Care Of The Eyes

Sight Important as an Educator — Bad Habits Lessen Nerve Force — Absorption of Cataract — Impairment of Sight Due to Enfeebled Blood and Nerve Force — Benefit to be Derived from the Use of the Flesh Brush — Stagnation — Death in Life. . . . . 113-118

Chapter IX. Prevention Better Than Cure

Colds Contracted Unconsciously — Indisposition of Children for Play — Perverted Polarity of the Internal and External Man — The Internal Organs Negative and the External Positive in Health. . . . . 118-123

Chapter X. Cure Of Disease Made Simple

Pain th£ Result of the Effort of the Vital Forces to Restore Health — Fossilized Mind a Hindrance to Progression — Flesh Heir to no Ills — All Diseases are a Unit — Pure Air the Natural Disinfectant — Rest an Absolute Necessity — Inherited or Pre-Natal Tendencies — Practice Among the very Poor — Mind the Great Controller — Cholera Epidemic of Europe— Treatment

CONTENTS. Vll

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of Asiatic Cholera — Peritonitis (Personal Experience) — It Meant Death — Malignant and Non-Malignant Scarlet Fever — How to Prevent Disfiguration from Smallpox 123-159

Chapter XI. Treatment Of General Diseases

Acute Nephritis — Diabetes — Lean and Nervous People- Excess of Sweets — Constipation — Catarrh — Dropsy of the Brain, Fainting, etc. . . . . . 160-197

Chapter XII. Materia Medica

198-233

Chapter XIII. Medical Electricity

What Daniel A. M. Clark says — Animal and Vegetable Vitality — The Nervous Influence — Conduction of Forces Through the Nerves — Electrical Force — Lettuce Leaves Grown within a Few Hours — Proper Regard Must be given to Polarization — Attraction and Repulsion — A Single Agent Made to Perform Processes Infinitely Numerous — Philosophy of Disease and its Cure — Every Disease is Positive or Negative in Excess — Relaxed and atrophied Conditions. . . 233-244

CHAPTER XIV. COUNT MATTEl's ELECTRO-HOMCEOPATHY

Principles of Electro-Homoeopathy — Superiority of Small Doses — A Revolution in Medicine — General . Indications as to Doses — External Use — Vegetable Electricities. . . .... . . . 245-256

Chapter XV. Care Of And Cooking For Invalids

Flowers in the Sick-room — Keep All Medicines Away from

Vlll CONTENTS.

PAGE

the Sick-room, etc 257-272

Chapter XVI. Memory

Its Natural Law and Benefit to Life — Knowledge Useless When it cannot be Revived — Knowledge of History of Great Value to the Statesman — We Judge of the Future by the Past — The Natural Musician has a Ready Memory — Memory Accompanies Taste — Good Memories of Children— Natural Laws of Memory. 272-290

MARRIAGE AND PARENTAGE OF THE FUTURE.

Tracing Humanity in Its Various Manifestations — No Man's Love Guided by Reason — Happiness Born of Self-Denial. . 335-359

Introduction

(PLEASE READ THIS.)

In sending this book forth to the world, it is with the earnest desire of relieving at least some portion of the pain and suffering with which humanity is sorely afflicted, and which exists in every class and condition of life.

No mortal state is perfect. The law which, as yet, prevents perfection of the human being, in all his aspects — physical, mental or spiritual — operates also in every department of life, and in every field of activity toward which man directs the forces of his intellect. Agri culture is but just emerging from its crude period ; mechanics is still largely in the experimental stage; commerce and business are records of successive triumphs and failures, the latter predominating; theology has but recently commenced to broaden, and the law is no better than the men who make it.

Medicine is but an invention of the human brain. Commencing in empiricism, it grew gradually into a system of experimentation, and is but

X INTRODUCTION.

now slowly approaching the status of a science. Anatomy, physiology, pathology, surgery, chemistry, and certain other departments of the profession have been, through most praiseworthy and Herculean labors, developed into truly scientific knowledge, but much of the dark uuattained still remains in the materia medica — the healing, curative, restorative, health-producing, disease-preventing department— in which it is the regret of many physicians that the darkness is still unpleasantly dense. None will more genuinely rejoice over advances here made than physicians.

Of the various cases treated by the physician, the obstetrical inspires the most dread; any advance here made is hailed with delight equally by profession and people. The most important advance, namely, the fruit diet system, to be used during the period of pregnancy, was promulgated by M. L. Holbrook, M. D., and also by Alice B. Stockham, M. D., in her work entitled "Tokology ." This was a valuable ray of light to the world, and, as we continue to develop in this line, other ideas will dawn upon us. In this book, I give another ray, sending it forth in the hope and with confidence that, to the extent it shall be adopted and practiced, pain will be banished and happiness

INTRODUCTION. XI

increased. This new ray is especially valuable in giving to the world the knowledge of how to make childbirth easy, regardless of the kind of diet used during the period of gestation. We would not discourage the fruit diet system ; on the contrary, we favor it, but there are many women who do not, and cannot have the advantage of that system, and herein they may find perfect relief in this system.

The chapter on Air as Food contains hints of priceless value. The chapter on Memory is so perfect a delineation of the natural laws of memory that every one who gives it careful consideration will feel no occasion for courses of instruction by itinerant teachers. The chapter on Value of Repose as a Restorative, will be a boon to a large class.

Healing through the Power of Mind is a chapter which, when fully understood, lifts all ideas of life, in its every aspect, to a new and higher plane. It makes specially conspicuous the influence of the mind over the body, and its great power to produce either health or disease. It is an important chapter to be considered in connection with all the other chapters, since the mind, rightly directed, is a tower of strength, sustaining and aiding every other system of treatment. The mind,

Xll INTRODUCTION.

as a remedial agent, cannot be too highly appreciated by all classes, whether lay or professional, since it has everything to do with the body, whether for good or ill. Nearly every one has experienced the effect of disappointment or sudden fright, before a meal. This effect is to instantaneously check the appetite and change the desire for food into aversion. Contrarily, how good news will quicken the circulation and stimulate all the activities. With the pregnant woman and the nursing mother, this knowledge is invaluable. The success or failure of business men depends entirely upon the use made of the forces of the mind ; rightly directed, success is certain.

I would not seem arbitrary in the laying down of unbreakable rules. Every person must finally, to a great extent, rise above the instruction to be obtained in books before the grandest achievements can be made. Books should be guides, but with modifications. They should be followed so far as the judgment and good sense approve, and no further. Again, it is impossible for any book, however complete, to anticipate every emergency ; consequently, books should be relied on as furnishing principles and suggestions, rather than dogmatic and iron-clad laws. I wish every reader of

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

this book to consider every sentence in every chapter as being simply a thought on which he should improve if possible. A book thoroughly digested is worth far more to you than one thoughtlessly swallowed. Every one is familiar with the saying, that "What is meat for one may be poison for another."

There are persons whom strawberries will nauseate, and others still who would be thrown into spasms by eating cheese. Thus it is important that each person should observe the effects resulting from any course of treatment, and let his feelings as well as his judgment be his guide. There are cases where the feelings are perverted, and if so, the judgment should rule them. If, however, this should not be the case, they — as the true voice of nature — should be heeded and respected.

In chronic diseases the feelings have become largely perverted. In acute cases they are natural. In the past, the feelings of the patient have not been sufficiently considered, and an increase instead of a mitigation of suffering has resulted. We are learning to be governed by nature more, and by arbitrary and tyrannical rules less. Rules should be received as guides to lean upon when your own intuitions suggest nothing better. The

book that helps your individual intuitions most is the best guide for you.

The human form is the most beautiful thing in nature ; the human mind is the strongest power possible for us to contemplate.

A child has the capacity to understand a

truthful answer to any question that it has the

mind to ask.

M. R. M.

Chicago, III.

PREVENTION AND CURE OF DISEASE SIMPLIFIED.

Chapter I. Painless Childbirth

Painless childbirth is an established fact. It was prophesied fifty years ago, by the most eminent physicians the world ever knew, that the time was coming when painless childbirth would become an established fact generally known to the world.

MRS. ELIZABETH CADY STANTON

has voiced it from the platform for many years. In a lecture to ladies, she thus strongly expresses her views regarding maternity and painless parturition : "We must educate our daughters to think motherhood is grand, and that God never cursed it. And that the curse, if it be a curse, may be rolled off, as man has rolled off the curse of labor, by labor-saving inventions ; and as the curse has been rolled from the descendants of Ham. My mission among women is to preach this new gospel. If you suffer, it is not because you are cursed of God, but because you violate His laws. What an incubus it would take from woman, could she be educated to know that the pains of maternity are no curse upon her kind. We know that among Indians the squaws do not suffer in childbirth. They will step aside from the ranks, even on the march, and return in a short time, bearing with them the new-born child. What an absurdity, then, to suppose that only enlightened Christian women are cursed."

Observation teaches us that all animals which are left to instinct and nature, bring their young into the world without suffering. The Indian squaw, as Mrs. Stanton remarks, w T ho is guided entirely by her own intuition and the natural laws which govern her, brings forth her young without pain. She will give birth while following a trail, only stopping long enough behind a stump or tree, without comforts, or even shelter, and in a few hours follow on with her new-born pappoose strapped to her shoulders, carrying the little burden herself.

We do not wish to combat physicians on any theory, or any established methods of treatment which add to the welfare of mankind, but we heartily invite the co-operation of all progressive and practical thinkers of any school. With us, this knowledge is derived from experience, and not from undigested, undefined theories. Our object is to avert that suffering known only to woman in time of labor. We do not feel that any law of ethics should be permitted to interfere with a humane promulgation of any knowledge we possess in this matter.

The diet for the mother, while carrying a child, should be wisely considered. Set rules cannot be followed. A mixed diet is best, including cereals, vegetables, meats, and fruits in plenty. Of the meats, eat sparingly. If it is no self-denial to do without meat, then eat none ; there is greater ability for mental and physical endurance and greater fortitude without than with a meat diet ; this fact will sometime be universally recognized. There are ancient nations — non meat eating — whose great endurance demonstrates this fact, showing that the necessity for animal food is entirely a matter of education. The change from meat, however, must be gradual, for so long as the mind thinks the meat diet necessary, the necessity exists ; since the mind exercises great influence and control over the body. No change should be abrupt. Women, except among the rich, in some of the European countries, eat very little meat.

In Ireland, women of the poorer class live on a diet of potatoes and cabbage, and their confinements are only from one to three hours in duration, with very little pain ; in some cases, no pain whatever is experienced.

If a person is very fleshy and warm-blooded, lemonade and juices of berries and fruits are good; if lean and thin, oatmeal water and rice water make nice drinks, also coffee and tea moderately used. Care must be observed in not eating too much, thus causing fatigue. A little food well digested is better than a great deal not digested. If the system is in good condition, there will not be a particular longing or craving for any certain food, but if abnormal, then fancies will be marked. If a mother is very fleshy, she should reduce somewhat by bathing and a very nutritious diet, not using much sweet food, eating carefully and in small quantities.

A very thin person should eat farinaceous food and cream, vegetables, fruits and nuts, avoiding all sweets. It has been the thought with some that sweet food makes fat. The sweets cause acidity of the stomach; this produces an acid state of the blood which prevents the increase of fat and muscle. Pastry, cake, and canned fruits which contain a large amount of sugar, should be avoided by the pregnant woman. Soups are very good, and should be eaten at the beginning of the meal. Some women, when pregnant, have excessive appetites, eating as much at one meal as formerly accustomed to eat in two. Such women have large children, often weighing from twelve to fourteen pounds at birth. These excessive appetites should be controlled. Leave the table a little hungry, and in less than twenty minutes the craving for food will cease, and the general feeling will be much improved ; as a result, the child will not be so large. The pregnant woman cannot drink too much water, since much extra fluid is demanded by the system; hot water is best if she enjoys it. The solid food should be well masticated and mixed with saliva. The practice of deep breathing should be cultivated and encouraged daily, during all the months of gestation. The extra air breathed will form a substitute for a portion of the solid food otherwise craved. It has not been generally taught, nevertheless it is a great and most valuable physiological truth, that the air we breathe is as necessary to the building of tissue and muscle as solid food. The breathing exercise will also be a most excellent additional preparation for the day of confinement. It will not only make less table food (air is food) necessary, but it will give an improved tone to the system generally.

A person must attend well to cleanliness so as to eliminate all impure secretion that tends to the surface. This helps to purify the blood and strengthen the muscles. A very fleshy person can use water freely, and any kind of baths are of benefit. But a very thin and delicate person must use oils; any of the vegetable oils will do. Rub the oil well into the skin, then take a piece of flannel or a Turkish towel and rub until the skin is dry and soft. This makes a person feel strong and vigorous. This rule applies to children as well. The oils should be used twice a week in a warm room.

We advocate the hot baths, using water, steam or Turkish. A warm sitz-bath, taken just before retiring, and the bowels and back well washed with pure soap, will be very beneficial twice a week, for two months before childbirth.

I am acquainted with a number of ladies who used the Turkish or Russian baths during the entire nine months of gestation, with the most gratifying results. One of them had just time to reach home from the bath when the child was born; there was no opportunity for the family physician to arrive in time. She was the mother of five children. Attend well to the feet by bathing them at least every other night, on retiring. If troubled with habitually cold feet, dip them alternately first into a pan of hot water, then into cold ; repeat this several times before wiping them dry. This practice will soon establish the condition of permanently warm feet, an important aid to good health.

The system here introduced is not new. It is known and has been practiced in various parts of Europe for a hundred years. I acquired the knowledge from one whose memory is sacred to me; who herself was the mother of eight large children, all born under the treatment that will be herein set forth. Her health remained unbroken, free from any weakness or injury from the many confinements she had passed through. The system is perfectly safe in the hands of the unprofessional. It is often the case in country places that the only dependence of the about-to-be-mother is upon the kind offices of a neighbor or friend. This system would be a boon to every woman in the land. It in no way interferes with the physician; on the contrary it relieves both him and the patient of much anxiety, comforting her through the months of waiting, and relieving her mind of that terror and dread of confinement now so universal. It is a blessing come to woman, a system born of nature, soothing and refreshing. It eliminates all morbid accumulations and secretions, establishing a general equilibrium.

Many who have had their first child under this system have remarked :"AVhy, I could have another and not feel tired." Others, who in previous confinements have been ruptured and lacerated, and cautioned not to become pregnant again, afterwards pass through their confinements as safely as though former accidents had not occurred. The harmful tension at birth is caused by lack of right knowledge on the part of the patient, and an inherited ignorance from an ancestry before her. This injurious tension we remove. The relaxation of the nervous and muscular system is in perfect harmony with nature.

The approaching termination of gestation is indicated usually by various symptoms called precursory or premonitory signs of labor. About the last two weeks a change becomes perceptible in the form of the abdomen. Its sides become more projecting, as the uterine tumor sinks from the region of the stomach and epigastrium. This change makes breathing easier, the food is taken with less discomfort, and in many ways the woman feels lighter and better. This change results from the body and neck of the womb blending into one, through the softening and giving way of the os internum uteri, and by the sinking downward of the uterus ; the fundus of which is now found to lie midway between the ensiform cartilage of the sternum, and the umbilicum. At the same time the uterus is projected forward. The inclination to urinate becomes more frequent,' owing to the increased pressure on the bladder. Sleep is more broken by restlessness, and walking becomes more difficult. The woman becomes more clumsy, and, a little later, glairy discharges take place from the vagina. These simply show an increased action of the mucous glands preparing for the final act of parturition. Finally there is the commencement of painless contractions ; these, a little later on, become somewhat painful, this slight painfulness t>eing only one of the signs. The mucous is more or less tinged with blood from the rupture of small vessels around the cervix, due to commencing dilatation and separation of the membrane — in the language of the lying-in chamber, "the show." As the patient is about to give birth to the child, she should see that the bowels are evacuated, and if this is not accomplished naturally, a copious injection of warm water should be used. If constipation is very obstinate, an injection of slippery elm infusion with a little soap should be taken, in order to insure a free evacuation.

In the early part of the first stage give Avarm tea, a cup every ten minutes, or as the case may require, inducing free perspiration. Have the room warm, with plenty of pure air. Attend to the feet and keep them Avarm. Pay attention to oiling the vagina and surrounding tissues with pure, sweet lard or unsalted butter. All handling or maneuvering, in the hope of bettering the process of nature, is uncalled for and injurious. Parts that are taxed by this process of nature quickly rally to a normal condition and tone, while unnecessary manipulation may subject them to serious injury and cause much after suffering. While the patient is taking the tea, she should pay special attention to extra breathing. Fill the lungs by inhaling through the nostrils, breathing as deeply as possible, and exhaling slowly in the same manner. Extra, breathing increases the strength and endurance of the patient; all remedies act more forcibly, and, capillary circulation being increased, at the same time hemorrhages are prevented or cured. This will cause pressure where otherwise there Avould be pain, and I cannot impress it too vividly upon your minds.

Many suppose that perspiration is weakening ; experience has proven to the contrary. Free perspiration removes all fear of fever and other unpleasant symptoms generally attending childbirth. The child and placenta are delivered in from one to three hours at the longest, and the patient is left free from laceration, rupture, fevers, blood poisoning, and all the sequences so frequently following parturition. She suffers no pains, soreness, rigors, nor chills, when reaction takes place. Age is no hindrance to an easy and natural delivery. It will be as easy at forty as at twenty years of age. Nothing less than a malformation of the pelvis can prevent a perfect delivery. In such a case, where surgical aid might be required, my treatment would still be of great assistance; it is invaluable in premature births, when the contents are large enough to give expulsive power.

When the time has come for the mother to give birth, she should put on a loose dress— a flannel wrapper is best. Flannel is a non-conductor of heat, and as the object of the treatment is to remove all tension of the nervous and muscular tissues, the retention of the heat becomes an assistant, and also aids in dilating the os uteri and surrounding tissues.

Do not lie down to have your offspring, unless very strongly inclined so to do. You do not lie down to work. A kneeling position is most desir- * able for some Avomen, holding for support to something in front of them; with others the sitting posture is easiest; move around and find the position that seems most comfortable. Many a mother has been sacrificed through the feeling that she must go to bed for the birth of her child. Nature at that time needs all the energy and assistance an intelligent mother can give. Do everything possible to assist; breathe deeply, hold a full breath, and by thus expanding the lungs, assist nature to bring forth her young.

After the child is born, the mother should lie down and have some gruel, broth, or a cup of tea. If the after-birth immediately follows the birth of the child, nothing more is required at the time. If it is retained, and when the mother is rested, the

PAINLESS CHILDBIBTH 13

attending physician can remove it; this can easily be accomplished by an injection, into the vagina and rectum, of slippery elm infusion and pure soap, thus relaxing and loosening the parts and causing a natural and easy delivery. Keeping warm and paying attention to the breathing will prevent any unusual discharge of blood. The patient must possess perfect control of herself, realizing that it is natural to bear children. She must not become frightened, and thus nervous and helpless as so many women do, as the result of hearing of the terrible experiences of others. If there have been sad experiences in the past, their day is over, and a new and happy era for the mother-woman has dawned.

After the expulsion of the child, it is better to turn its back to its mother, and let her covering fall between herself and the child, thus bringing it into full view, and completely protecting the mother from cold or exposure. A soft napkin should now be used to wipe the child's face, eyes and mouth. The child usually cries lustily as soon as it is born. The sudden contact with the air is exciting, and more or less irritating to the exceedingly sensitive infant; the natural cry assists in establishing the new function of breathing.

Be not disturbed at this first manifestation of external life through the seemingly painful cries, for the absence of these would give much more cause for alarm.

Let the child lie undisturbed for some five minutes, or until breathing is fully established. By that time, in most cases, the cord will have ceased to pulsate up to within about three inches of the child's body. It should then be cut about three inches from the abdomen. In one minute the flow of blood from the cord will have ceased, when the cord should be tied, with coarse silk or thread, about two inches from the abdomen. Should the cord seem large and tapering from the abdomen, it may be because a portion of the intestine is within it. In such case cut the cord beyond the extended intestine, return the intestine into the abdomen, and retain it there by a belly-band. After the cord is washed and dried, take a piece of cotton, the size of the palm of the hand, cut a hole in it large enough for the cord to pass through, and place the cloth next the body of the child. Cut another piece of the same size, and, without the hole, place over the cord and hold in place by the belly-band.

After it has healed properly, do not use bandages any longer; discard them entirety. Do not use a diaper after three months, but teach the child to use a little chair. You may doubt the possibility of teaching a child so young, but try it and be convinced. Much labor is saved the mother by teaching the child early.