The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1909-03-27
copyright. by Joseph B. Bowles.)
"THE DIET CURE. "
(Continued.)

opera. especially in the winter. wnen
less air and light are admitted, with
out admitting into your air passages,
enough germs of consumption or OF
pneumonia or other germ disease, to
send you to the grave. il the vitality
Of the blood is SO low as to allow
these disease germs to multiply so far
as to develop the disease in virulent
form.
Many of us have had consumption
SO far started, without knowing 1t,
that post-mortem examiuo1ion of our
lungs would show that small colonies
| of the tuberculosis germ had started
their work of destroying the lung It's
sue but had been overcome by the
natural defensive powers of the sys-
TEN. And this applies to nearly every
other disease. How often we read of
death from the scratch of a pin or
| condition, the defenses weakened!
Some modern medical philosophers
hold that the vitality is in the nerves,
that. therefore, the secret of health
lies in keeping the nervous system in
order, and that, consequently, cure
depends upon toning the nervous sys-
| TEN. which they aim to do by soothing
drugs, by mental influence, by cleo
tricity, by change of scene or by rest.
or all of these.
/ II is true that all the physical func-
lions are controlled by the mind, with
the nerves as conductors of sensation
carrying impressions from every part
of the body to the spinal column and
the brain, and carrying messages from
the brain and spinal column to every
cell in the body, with the sympathetic
nerve system directly controlling the
| vital rocesses-digestio pulsation,
ETC.. subject to suggestion from the
objective mind, which is constantly
going on while we are awake-every
thought, every mental picture influence
ing the body, sometimes so powerfully.
as in fright, as to cause death; but
the nerves are as powerless to act, OF
| themselves, as are the wires from a
battery to produce a current. They
must be charged from the dynamo, the
brain, and that requires galvanic bat
terry. with the blood as its liquid; and
the quality of the current must de-
pend, largely, upon the quality of the
YQuid, the blood. Unless the neces-
sary elements are supplied to the
blood and the waste removed death
must, in time, ensue. Poisoned blood
will no more support life than will
worn out liquid supply life to bat
terry.
1t is important, indeed, to treat the
nervous system, and profound knowl-
edge of physiology and of psychology
are necessary to do this wisely, but
the material vital supply must come
from the food. Proper feeding is the
prime condition of sound nervous
system. Let child be ill nourished,
prenatal. or post-natal, and you
have weak, nervous" child,
but feed child well (avoid-
ing the almost universal error, too
much food and it is vigorous in every
way.
Gold" is a form of congestion, as,
indeed, every disease is, in a sense
congestion; resulting, primarily, from
bad feeding, including defective elm
ination.
DiIigent searchers after disease
germs have at length discovered a
germ to go with pneumonia, the grir
and. as was to be expected, with each
kind of "cold," great variety. Now
Mo inn, mr. ~ IN
the causation of disease, part as i'm
! portant, at least, as the common house
fly plays In the causation of filth. Il
IS worthy of note, that the typhu:
: fever germ has almost disappeared
because the degree of filth necessary
TO entertain that festive bug has beer
refegated to semi barbarous age.
The blood is circulated through
every tissue by the vital impulse o
the nervous system, which controls
, the expansion and contraction of tn,
heart and the arteries, as 1t controls
! every other vital function. If the tenn
!. | perature of the body be suddenly low
. cred. contraction of the minute bloc,
, vessels ut the surface of the body re
, suits, driving the blood inward ant
I away from the extremities.
3 Now If the circulation is FREQ ant
!. easy through all the tissues. IL tn
q system Is not clogged by the vast
}. from imperfectly digested food, and
}. the nervous energy is high. and no
!. abnormally sensitive, the balance Q
the circulation and nerve supply ar
easily restored, but If the cfrculatio
v is sluggish and vitality low. a more Q
/" less permanent congestion results; "
have slight or a severe cold" show
0 ing chiefly IN the head. the lungs. tn
e throat or congesting the kidreys an
l. precipitating rheumatism, If the sy
o TEN is predisposed to rheumatism b
!. improper food and sluggish circulatio
/. or, If the vitality is very low. as