Iridiagnosis and other diagnostic methods

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

Frontispiece — Chart of Iris.

Color Plate 114

Chapter I Iridology

Correct diagnosis is the first essential to rational treatment. Every honest physician admits that the old school methods of diagnosis are, to say the least, unsatisfactory and uncertain, especially in ascertaining the underlying causes of disease.

Therefore we should welcome any and all methods of diagnosis which throw more light on the causes and the nature of disease conditions in the human organism.

Two valuable additions to diagnostic science are now offered to us in Spinal Analysis and in the Diagnosis from the Iris of the Eye.

Spinal analysis furnishes valuable information concerning the connection between disease conditions and misplacements of vertebrae and other bony structures, contractions or abnormal relaxation of connective tissues, and inflammation of nerves and nerve centers.

Men of high standing in the profession have many times admitted the uncertainty of medical diagnosis, but never has more enlightening information on this subject been furnished than by Dr. Cabot of Harvard University, one of the foremost diagnosticians in this country, and author of a standard work on diagnosis.

In a recent address before the American Medical Association he stated that postmortem examinations of one thousand cases which he had conducted disclosed the fact that the antemortem diagnoses were correct in only fiftythree percent of these cases. The following table compiled by Dr. Cabot gives the nature of the various diseases and the exact percentage of correct diagnoses in each :

Disease Percent

Diabetes Mellitus 95

Typhoid 92

Aortic Regurg 84

Cancer of the Colon 74

Lobar Pneumonia 74

Chr. Glomeruloneph 74

Cerebral Tumor 72f

Tb. Meningitis 72

Gastric Cancer 72

Mitral Stenosis 69

Brain Hemorrhage 67

Septic Meningitis 64

Aortic Stenosis 61

Phthisis, acute 59

Miliary Tb , . 52

Chronic Interst. Neph 50

Thoracic Aneurism 50

Hepatic Cirrhosis 39

Acute Endocard 39

Peptic Ulcer 36

Suppurative Neph 35

Renal Tb 33J

Bronchopneumonia 33

Vertebral Tb 23

Chron. Myocarditis 22

Hepatic Abscess 20

Ac. Pericarditis 20

Ac. Nephritis 16

Dr. Cabot's candid report surely gives food for serious thought. If his colleagues on the staff of the Massachu-

IRIDOLOGY 7

setts General Hospital, with excellent scientific equipment at their command, failed to render a correct diagnosis in about fifty per cent of one thousand cases, what may be expected of the average less skilled physician and surgeon in general practice?

Correct prescription, according to allopathic standards, can be based only on correct diagnosis. The old school of medicine recognizes hundreds of different diseases, each one an entity by itself arising from specific causes — mostly disease germs. From this it follows that each specific disease must be treated by specific drugs, vaccines, serums and antitoxins, or by specially devised operations.

It is evident that the wrong remedy applied in a given case will not only prove useless, but may cause serious injury; yet if fifty per cent of all the diagnoses rendered in our best equipped hospitals are erroneous, how can the doctors apply the right remedy? Will somebody please explain ?

Compare with this extremely dangerous guess work the safe and sane methods of Natural Therapeutics. Perfectly harmless in themselves, w^hen applied with a modicum of common sense they tend to correct in any case the three primary manifestations of disease, and must therefore produce satisfactory results no matter what the diagnosis. This, I have fully explained in Chapter XX, Vol. I, of this series. While the allopathic physician must postpone the administration of his specific remedies until he gets ready to make a guess — first at the nature of the disease, and then at the indicated remedy — the practitioner of Natural Therapeutics applies his natural remedies with absolute safety, and assurance of success if that is possible in the nature of the case, from the first appearance of abnormal symptoms. Thereby he frequently cures the disease before his allopathic colleague would get ready to treat it. In many cases medical indecision and procrastination allows the disease processes to make such headway that they cannot be arrested by any means.

Dr. Cabot is not the only allopathic physician who admits an appalling discrepancy between clinical findings and the revelations of the postmortem examinations. According to a recently published report of a committee appointed to investigate New York hospitals, the autopsies of the famous Bellevue Hospital prove that out of every hundred diagnoses made by the physician in charge 47.7 per cent are absolutely wrong. These figures coincide very closely with those of Dr. Cabot.

This revelation of medical incompetency caused Dr. C. L. Wheeler, editor of the New York Journal of Medicine, to make the following sensational statement: " Every doctor in America is a quack — and he can't help it ! This statement is amazing only to the layman. No doctor is surprised at it. Doctors know that all of us are more or less quacks; that many of our diagnoses are only guess work ; and we all know what is far worse than this — that we cannot help it, because our hands are tied. Why is this? Because the public refuses medicine the right to become an exact science by objecting to the performance of an autopsy in every case of death."

Dr. Wheeler evidently has not learned the lesson taught by these autopsies, namely, that the allopathic conception of the nature of disease and its methods of diagnosis and prognosis as well as of treatment, are all wrong in the first place. He might just as well try to prove 100 x 0=1 as to establish an exact science of diagnosis by multiplying autopsies. The postmortem examination may reveal the final stages of destruction in vital organs, but medical science will continue to fail in diagnosis and prognosis as long as it does not understand and refuses to understand that such destruction is brought about through

IRIDOLOGY 9

wrong habits of living and through unnatural methods of treatment.

This is a serious accusation. Why should conscientious physicians refuse to investigate the true nature and causes of disease? The answer is: Because such knowledge comes from "unethical" sources; because from the viewpoint of medical ethics it is better to let a patient die in the "regular" way than to see him cured in the "irregular" way.

Not the opposition of the public to autopsies is responsible for the inadequacy of allopathic diagnosis and prognosis, but the fact that orthodox medicine is not an exact science because it bases its findings on the chaotic and contradictory teachings of medical authorities instead of studying and complying with the laws of Nature governing the processes of health, disease and cure.

This valuable knowledge is freely offered to the medical profession by the School of Natural Therapeutics. As long as they refuse to give fair consideration to this exact philosophy and science of disease and cure, the teachings of which are verified by the experience of millions of intelligent followers all over the earth and in the daily practice of tens of thousands of drugless healers in this country, they must stand convicted of wilful indifference and neglect.

Since prominent members of the medical profession admit the utter inadequacy of allopathic methods of diagnosis and prognosis, why should we hesitate to welcome such valuable aids to diagnostic science as Iridology, Spinal Analysis and Basic Diagnosis, when every one of these helps to elucidate, to correct or confirm the findings of other methods ? Is it not a matter of common sense and of personal responsibility toward our patients that we should combine in diagnosis as well as in treatment all that is good and helpful?

In the light of these revelations, what reliance can we place on medical health certificates issued to candidates for marriage? What value can be attached to enforced medical examinations in our public schools? What right have medical practitioners to pronounce chronics and defectives incurable, to sterilize them, or to kill them by the refusal of medical aid or by the practice of euthanasia ?

Is Iridiagnosis Sufficient to Diagnose Disease?

Iridology is as yet a new science, and much remains to be discovered and to be better explained. Many times we do not find a sign in the iris for the lesion or diseased condition which we know to exist in the body. At other times the records in the eyes indicate more serious conditions than can be ascertained by other methods. As regards this point, however, it is well to remember that old school physicians, notwithstanding their up-to-date scientific equipment, only too often see their diagnosis discredited by the postmortem findings.

Those who confine their examinations to the eye or the spine fall as far short of making a reliable diagnosis or prognosis as the old school country doctor with his limited equipment. In our work we do not confine ourselves to Iridiagnosis, but combine with it the diagnostic methods (physical diagnosis) of the allopathic school of medicine, spinal analysis, basic diagnosis, as well as laboratory tests and microscopic examinations.

Thus any one of these methods supplements and verifies all the others. In this way only is it possible to arrive at a thorough and definite understanding of the patient's condition.

The Story of a Great Discovery Dr. Von Peckzely, of Budapest, Hungary, discovered Nature 's records in the eye, quite by accident, when a boy ten years of age.

IEIDOLOGY 11

Playing one day in the garden at his home, he caught an owl. While struggling with the bird, he broke one of its limbs. Gazing straight into the owl's large, bright eyes, he noticed, at the moment when the bone snapped, the appearance of a black spot in the lower central region of the iris, which area he later found to correspond to the location of the broken leg.

The boy put a splint on the broken limb and kept the owl as a pet. As the fracture healed, he noticed that the black spot in the iris became overdrawn by a white film and surrounded by a white border (denoting the formation of scar tissues in the broken bone).

This incident made a lasting impression on the mind of the future doctor. It often recurred to him in later years. From further observations he gained the conviction that abnormal physical conditions are portrayed in the eyes.

As a student, Von Peckzely became involved in the revolutionary movement of 1848 and was put in prison as an agitator and ringleader. During his confinement he had plenty of time and leisure to pursue his favorite theory, and he became more and more convinced of the importance of his discovery. After his release he entered upon the study of medicine, in order to develop his important discoveries and to confirm them more fully in the operating and dissecting rooms. He had himself enrolled as an interne in the surgical wards of the college hospital. Here he had ample opportunity to observe the eyes of patients before and after accidents and operations, and in that manner he was enabled to elaborate the first accurate Chart of the Eye.

Since Von Peckzely gave his discoveries to the world, many well known scientists and conscientious observers in Austria, Germany, Sweden and in this country have devoted their lives to the perfection of this wonderful science. Foremost among the followers of Von Peckzely in Europe was the Rev. Niels Liljequist, a Swedish clergyman, who, for many years, has made Iridology his life work. He perfected Peckzely 's chart of the iris and was the first one to describe signs of drug poisoning. He had suffered terribly from most of the symptoms of quinin poisoning (chronic cinchonism) ever since he had taken large quantities of the drug in early life. After he became acquainted with iridiagnosis he discovered the connection between the yellow discoloration in his eyes and the chronic quinin poisoning. This led him to study the relationship of other color pigments to various forms of drug poisoning, such as iodism, mercurialism, bromism, arsenical poisoning, etc.

In Germany Dr. Thiel and Pastor Felke made valuable contributions to Iridology, and became famous diagnosticians and Nature Cure physicians.

In this country Dr. H. Lahn wrote the first book in the English language on this new and valuable method of diagnosis. Many years of personal acquaintance with this remarkable man and his work impels me to give him credit for being one of the ablest iridiagnosticians now living. Anderchou in England published a few years ago a brief summary of the discoveries and teachings of the pioneers of Iridology.

The " regular' ' school of medicine, as a body, has ignored and will ignore this science, because it discloses the fallacy of their favorite theories and practices, and because it reveals unmistakably the direful results of chronic drug poisoning and ill advised operations.

Leaving out of consideration everything that is at present speculative and uncertain, we are justified in making the following statements, subject to the qualifications and limitations before described:

(1) The eye is not only, as the ancients said, "the mir

IRIDOLOGY 13

ror of the soul", but it also frequently reveals abnormal conditions and changes in every part and organ of the body.

(2) Organs and parts of the body are represented in the iris of the eye in well defined areas. (Chart — Frontispiece.)

(3) The iris of the eye contains an immense number of minute nerve filaments, which through the optic nerves, the optic thalami and the spinal cord are connected with and receive impressions from every nerve in the body.

(4) The nerve filaments, muscle fibres and minute blood vessels in the different areas of the iris reproduce the changing conditions in the corresponding parts or organs.

(5) By means of various marks, signs, abnormal colors, or discolorations in the iris, Nature reveals transmitted disease taints and hereditary lesions.

(6) By signs, marks and discolorations, Nature also makes known acute and chronic inflammatory or catarrhal conditions, local lesions, destruction of tissues, various drug poisons, and. changes in structures and tissues caused by accidental injury or by surgical mutilations. (Figs. 12, 28)

(7) The diagnosis from the iris of the eye positively confirms Hahnemann's theory that acute diseases have a constitutional background of hereditary or acquired disease taints or systemic encumbrances.

(8) This science enables the diagnostician to ascertain, from the appearance of the iris, many of the patient 's inherited or acquired tendencies toward health and toward disease, his condition in general, and the state of various organs in particular. Reading Nature's records in the eye, he can predict many of the healing crises through which the patient will have to pass on the road to health.

(9) The iris frequently reveals dangerous changes in vital parts and organs from their inception, thus enabling the patient to avert threatening disease by natural living and natural methods of treatment.

(10) Changes in the iris indicate plainly the gradual purification of the system, the elimination of morbid matter and poisons, and the readjustment of the organism to normal conditions under the regenerating influences of natural living and treatment.

How the Signs in the Iris Are Produced

The effects of surgical operations performed under anesthesia either do not show in the eyes at all, or only very faintly, though entire organs or large parts of the body may have been removed by the surgeon's knife. This is due to the fact that under anesthesia the sensory nerves are benumbed and paralyzed; for this reason we do not feel pain. This condition of temporary paralysis prevents the transmission of impulses to the iris and thereby the production of corresponding signs or lesions in the eye. For" instance, the loss of a leg amputated under anesthesia may not show in the eyes, while the scar tissue caused by the bite of a dog, a wound received from a bullet, or other injury received in a waking, conscious condition, may show for life in the form of a closed lesion in the iris.

These facts prove that the lesions in the eyes are made through abnormal or pathological nerve impulses, which throw the nerve fibres and other structures in the surface layers of the iris out of their normal arrangement. Inflammatory processes incidental to the healing of wounds show temporarily as white signs.

Discolorations or color signs in the eyes are created by color pigments carried into and deposited in the surface layers of the iris through the capillary circulation.

The dark signs of subacute catarrhal and chronic catarrhal conditions and of loss of substance or death of tissues are created through atrophy and sloughing of nerve and

IRIDOLOGY 15

muscle fibres in the surface of the iris, or depressions and holes in the deeper layers.

I have frequently heard the question, "How is it possible that lesions in the body show in the iris on the same side, when all the afferent nerves cross to the opposite brain half? According to this, lesions in one side of the body should show in the opposite iris. ,, The answer is, — the crossing" of the optic nerves brings back the signs in the iris to the side of the body in which the corresponding lesion is located.

Exceptions to this are lesions in the brain. They cross over in the optic nerves, and show in the opposite iris. Thus lesions in right brain half show in the left iris and vice versa.

Chapter II Anatomy Of The Iris

Since this volume is intended for the use of the layman as well as of the practicing physician, I shall endeavor to make the anatomical description as brief and simple as possible. To go into detail would only serve to confuse

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Fig. 1. Cross Section of Eyeball.

the layman and would not be of any special advantage to the trained scientist.

The eyeball is a hollow, elastic body, about one inch in diameter and nearly spherical in form. The segment of a smaller sphere projects in the front. The larger sphere is made up of three coats — the sclera, choroid and retina.

ANATOMY OF THE IRIS

1. The sclera or sclerotic coat is a tough, opaque fibrous membrane which surrounds about five-sixths of the eyeball. It serves to protect the inner parts from injury and to preserve the spherical shape of the eye.

The cornea is a continuation of the sclera and covers the frontal part of the eye which encloses the anterior chamber containing the aqueous humor. The cornea is as transparent as glass, so as to admit the light unhindered into the interior of the eye.

2. The choroid, or middle coat, is made up of connective tissue, blood vessels and pigment cells. The purpose

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Fig. 2. Cross Section of Iris.

of the choroid layer and the ciliary body is to supply nutriment to the whole eyeball.

The iris is a forward continuation of the choroid coat. It is a circular, mobile, colored curtain, suspended in the aqueous humor behind the cornea and in front of the crystalline lens. It is perforated a little toward the nasal side of its center by a circular aperture called the pupil. The iris receives its name (iris, irides, — a rainbow) from its varying color effects.

3. An inner coat, called the retina, which is an extension of the optic nerve, serves to receive impressions from the outside world and conveys them through the optic nerve to the center of vision in the occipital lobe of the cerebrum.

Structure of the Iris (Pig. 2, p. 17)

A. Surface endothelium. This is a single layer of flat endothelial cells continuous with the posterior lining of the cornea.

B. Stroma, a closely packed mesh- work of delicate radiating connective tissue fibres, enmeshing numerous nerve filaments, blood vessels, lymph vessels and large, irregularly branched connective tissue cells.

C. In the deeper layers of the stroma a band of involuntary muscle fibres, about 1 mm. in width, encircles the pupilary margin of the iris. Reflex contraction of this sphincter diminishes the size of the pupil.

Some authorities describe also radiating muscle fibres stretching from the border of the sphincter to the circumference of the iris. In all probability, however, these are elastic and not muscle fibres, the dilation of the pupil being accounted for by the relaxation of the sphincter muscle and the resulting automatic contraction of the elastic muscle fibres. The brighter the light, the more contracted the pupil, and vice versa. This mechanism aims to regulate the amount of light to be admitted to the retina.

D. Pigment layer. It consists of two rows of epithelial cells of a dark purple color, which rest on the uneven surface of the basement membrane of the iris. This pigment layer serves to prevent the penetration of light through the iris into the inner dark chamber of the eyeball.

E. Basement membrane consisting of strong connective tissue, which forms the support and innermost layer of the iris.

The Normal Colors of the Iris

As described in Chapter IV, there are only two normal iris colors, — light azure blue and light hazel brown.

I. The stroma of the blue iris is devoid of pigment, thus allowing the purple pigment layer to shimmer through as a uniform, clear sky blue.

II. In the normal brown iris the connective tissue cells of the stroma contain a brown pigment which totally ob-

ANATOMY OF THE IRIS scures the purple pigment layer, thus imparting a uniform, clear light brown color to the iris.

The albino iris contains no pigment either in the connective tissue cells of the stroma or in the pigment layer. The resulting transparency renders the blood vessels visible, hence the iris presents a delicate pink appearance.

For the sake of avoiding confusion we will henceforth consider only the Indo-Caueasian iris which is normally of a uniform brilliant azure color.

The Blood Supply of the Iris

The long and short ciliary blood vessels form a complete ring around the peripheral border of the iris.

Fig. 3. Blood Supply to. Iris.

From this major circle branches are given off which converge toward the pupil.

At a short distance from the outer border of the sphincter muscle they divide and anastamose to form a second ring,

From this minor circle branches continue their course to the pupilary border.

The Nerve Supply of the Iris

The nerve supply of the iris deserves special attention. The circular muscle fibres are supplied by the short ciliary nerve branch of the motor oculi, or third cranial nerve, coming directly from the brain.

Fig. 4.

The other structures are supplied by the long ciliary nerve, which is in direct communication with the cervical ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system. These nerves travel forward to the iris through the choroid coat of the

ANATOMY OF THE IBIS eyeball. Along the attached margin of the iris they form a plexus from which nerve filaments are given off to the muscle fibres and other structures of the iris. Some of these nerve filaments also go to form a complete network on the surface of the iris immediately underneath the surface endothelium. These are arranged in triangles, the bases of which rest on the outer rim of the iris, and whose apices point toward the pupil. (Fig. 4a) The

Fig. 4a. Triangles Formed by Nerves.

sides of these triangles coincide with the blood vessels, these with the sympathetic nerve supply, and these in turn with the borders of the organ areas.

The direct connection of the nerve filaments in the surface layers of the iris with the cervical ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system explains how impressions (vasomotor changes) from all over the body may be conveyed to the iris.

Chapter III Explanation Of The Key To Iridology

(See Chart, Frontispiece)

Every important part and organ in the body has its corresponding location in the iris in a well defined area, as outlined in the frontispiece.

As long as an organ is in normal condition, the corresponding area in the iris presents the normal color, either light blue or light brown, without any mark, sign or discoloration whatsoever.

"When an organ or part of the body undergoes acute or chronic changes as a result of hereditary influences, systemic or drug poisoning, or from mechanical injury, then these pathological changes are recorded in the corresponding area in the iris. Pregnancy, though involving profound changes in the organism, is not indicated in the iris because it is a normal physiological process.

Surgical mutilations of the body performed under anesthesia do not show in the iris, or only very faintly, because anesthesia benumbs and paralyzes the sensory nerves and thereby prevents the transmission of nerve impulses to the iris.

Any substance congenial to the body, i. e., naturally belonging to it, does not show in the iris. All substances not congenial to the body, i. e., those which do not belong to it, such as minerals and earthy elements in the inorganic form, and all poisons, show in the iris in well defined signs and color changes in the areas corresponding to the parts or organs where these substances have accumulated.

EXPLANATION OF KEY TO IRIDOLOGY 23

The arrangement of the areas in the iris is symmetrical and somewhat in harmony with the location of the various parts and organs in the body. We find the area of the stomach directly around the pupil and the field of the intestines surrounding the region of the stomach. The outer border of the intestinal field, the "sympathetic wreath", corresponds to the sympathetic nervous system, and all other parts and organs of the body radiate from or run into this sympathetic wreath.

All this is in correspondence with conditions in the body. The stomach and intestines are centrally located ; they are to the body what the fire-box is to boiler and engine. The entire organism is dependent upon the digestive organs for the elements of nutrition and fuel material.

Every cell and organ in the body depends upon the sympathetic nervous system for its supply of vital energy. All involuntary vital functions and activities are controlled and directed through the sympathetic nervous system. This is indicated in the iris by the fact that the areas of the various parts and organs start or radiate from the sympathetic wreath.

Thus the brain with its divisions, subdivisions and special centers is located in the upper regions of the iris, analogous to the location of the brain in the body. The distinctly human intellectual faculties, capacities and powers are located, in right-handed people, in the left brain hemisphere, but reflected through crossing of the optic nerves into the right iris. In left-handed people the condition is the reverse. The reason for this has been fully explained in Vol. IV, " Eugenics ".

The area of the leg is located in the center of the lower half of the iris, etc. Those organs which are located on one side of the body appear only in the corresponding iris. The heart and spleen, for instance, are represented in the left iris. The corresponding halves of organs divided by the median line of the body, such as the nose, mouth, bladder and genital organs, appear in both irides.

The symmetry of the divisions of the iris is much more real than is apparent on superficial examination. This becomes more clear as we study closely the interdependence of the various parts of the body.

The relation between the regions of the iris and the corresponding organs and parts of the body is further illustrated in Fig. 5, which is constructed by the following procedure :

Divide each iris of the regular key vertically through the center. Put the outer halves together and imagine

Anterior urzitp

Posterior

Fig. 5. Split Ciretee.

the resulting circle to be as large as the body. Then place the resulting large imaginary circle on the anterior aspect of the body in such a way that the pupil covers the umbilicus.

Similarly, the circle formed by the apposition of the inner halves is placed on the posterior aspect of the body.

By imagining these maps to be vertically and horizontally enlarged so as to cover the entire anterior and

EXPLANATION OF KEY TO IRIDOLOGY 25

posterior aspects of the body, the areas will be found to correspond closely to the different parts of the body. This symmetrical correspondence of the organ areas in the iris to the location of the organs in the body is concha sive evidence that this arrangement is not accidental, but is in harmony with Nature's definite design and purpose, and thus amply justifies scientific inquiry into the mysterious cypher language of the iris.

Chapter IV A Uniform Division And Classification Of

DISEASE

Students of iridology frequently complain that this interesting science has not been sufficiently systematized for purposes of intelligent study. In order to overcome this difficulty and to facilitate the study, I have divided the successive stages in the development of diseases into four well defined "stages of encumbrance."

Such a uniform division and classification *of disease conditions and of the corresponding records in the iris, once established, will greatly facilitate the study of Natural Therapeutics and of the diagnosis from the iris. It will also serve to establish a well defined phraseology intelligent to the layman and especially valuable to students and practitioners.

The Four Stages of Encumbrance

We distinguish in the development of chronic diseases the following four distinct stages of encumbrance :

First, hereditary and congenital stage;

Second, or acute and subacute inflammatory stage ;

Third, or chronic stage ;

Fourth, or chronic destructive stage, accompanied by loss of substance.

All chronic diseases (not caused by violence or conditions uncongenial to human life) that end fatally, pass through these four successive stages of encumbrance.

Chronic disease never develops suddenly in the human body. Nature always tries to prevent its gradual development by acute and subacute healing efforts. If these, by any means whatever, are checked and suppressed, then they are followed either by fatal complications or chronic after effects, the mysterious "sequelae" of medical science. Thus we find that the unity of disease as to causes and manifestations, applies to chronic as well as to acute diseases.