The Penn's Grove record., 1883-05-05
Hot Water as a Medicine.

schools of this city because he was break
ing down with consumption, andswho
has ever since been. battling for life,
although with little apparent prospect
of recovery, was encountered several
days ago in a Broadway restaurant.
~ see" he said, ''that you seem sur
prised at my improved appearance. No
doabt you wonder what could Rave
caused such a change. Well, it was u
vSry simple remedy-nothing but not
water
Hot water ?''
That's all. You remember my tell
ing you, that 1 had tried all the usual
remedies ? l consulted some of the
leading specialists in affections of the
lungs in this city, and paid them large
fees. They went through the usual
course of experimentation with me In
der all sorts of medicines. l went to
the Adriondacks in the summer and
to Florida in the winter, but none of
these things did me any substantial
good. l lost ground steadily, grew to
be almost a skeleton, and had all the
worst symptoms of a consumptive whose
end is neal at hand. At that juncture
a friend told me that he had heard of
cures being affected by drinking hot
water.
81 consulted a physician who had paid
| special attention to this hot-water cure
and was using it with many patients.
He said There is nothing, you know,
more difficult than to introduce a new
remedy into medical practice, particu-
larry if it is a very simple one and
| strikes at the root of views
| and prejudices that have long been en-
tertained. The old-school practitioners
have tried for years to cure consump-
ton, but they are as far from doing it
as ever. :
"sNow, the only rational explanation
of consumption is that it results from
defective nutrition. 1t is always accom-
panied by mal-assimilation of food. In
nearly every case the stomach is the seat
of a fermentation that necessarily pre-
vents proper digestion. The first thing
to do is to remove that fermentation,
and put the stomach into a condition to
receive food and dispose of it properly.
This is effected by taking water into
the stomach. as hot as it can be borne,
an hour before each meal. This leaves
the stomach clean and pure, like a
boiler that has been washed ont. Then
put into the stomach food that is in the
greatest degree nutritious and the least
disposed TO fermentation.
"'No food answers this description
better than tender beef. A little stale
bread may be eaten with it. Drink
nothing but pure water, and as little of
that at meals as possible. Vegetables,
pastry, sweets, taa coffee and aiso1Hvaso-
liquor should be avoided. Put tender
beef alone into a clean and pure
stomach three times a day, and the
system will be fortified and built up
until the wasting away, that is the chief !.
feature of consumption, ceases, and re-
cuperation sets in
"This reasoning impressed me. /
began by taking one cup of hot
water an hour before each meal, and
| gradually increased the dose to three
cups. At first it was unpleasant to
take, but now l drink it with a relish
that / never experienced in drinking
the choicest wine. l began to pick up
Immediately after the new treatment,
and gained fourteen pounds within two
months. l have gained ground stead
lily in the trying climate of New York;
and l tell you, sir, l feel on a sure way
to recovery"
Here an old gentleman who had been
standing near. and evidently listening
to the conversation, turned to the
| teacher and said "This remedy of hot
| water drinking has attracted my atten
ton for some time. 1t has been of
immense service in relieving me of a
terrible dyspepsia that tormented me
| for many years. i tried numerous able
| physicians, and there is probably no
| medicine that is prescribed for such an
ailment which was not given to me;
but none of them gave me any perma-
| nent benefit. But the simple remedy Of
| drinking hot water, accompanied by a
rational regulation of my diet, has
entirely cured me, advanced though l
am in life. 1t was not the dieting
| alone that did it. l had tried that
before. 1t was the use of hot water
that cured me, for that made it possible
TO derive benefit from a judicious diet.
I have also found this treatment of
great benefit in kidney diseases, which
are largely owing to mal-assimilation of
food"
The teacher listened very attentively
to the old gentleman's remarks:
81 am glad to learn that your expert
ence,'' he said, "agrees so fully with
mine. l have become acquainted with
various cases in which this simple
method of treatment has effected per-
manent cures after all the efforts of the
physicians had failed. l am convinced
simply from what l have seen, that
almost any disturbance of the human
system that results from disorders OF
the stomach can be alleviated, and, in
most instances, cured in the same way.
The very simplicity of the thing may
cause some to hesitate about attaching
much Importance to it; but, like the
proper ventilation Of your dwellings, it