The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-01-15
LITTLE LESSONS IN PHYSIOLOGY

5. Evacuation Is Not Elimination
 More than a hundred years ago Bennett, an Edinburgh investigator, showed that calomel does not in- crease the function or action of the liver, does not increase the secretion or excretion of bile. Many others have since confirmed the observa- ton. But many laymen and prob ably some physicians still imagine calomel somehow has such effects otherwise there could be no reason for using calomel as purgative.
 Numerous purgatives are hydro gogue irritants, that is, they cause the mucous membrane lining the alimentary tract to weep, discharge water, just as strong salt water causes watering of the eye or nose. All purgative or laxatives are more or less irritating, not only to the lining of stomach and intestine, but to the kidneys, too. Many so-called purely vegetable" or "herb laxa- tiveS cause congestion and irritation of the pelvic organs of men and women and are contributing factors in many cases of hemorrhoidS and of peculiar pelvic disorders in men and women.
 An ingredient in innumerable tablets, teas, powders and pills pur- porting to be good for stomach and liver trouble and to regulate" the bowels, is aloes or it's active princi- pie aloin. Aloes was originally used as a horse medicine. Sollman proved many years ago that aloes ar aloin causes tubular nephritis, acute Bright's disease, when administered hypodermically. No doubt it is a common contributing cause of chronic nephritis, in persons who use it frequently as laxative.
 Quacks and wiSeacre laymen com- monly confuse evacuation or defe- cation with elimination. Elimination or excretion of waste matter or pos sibly poisonous substances into the bowel occurs to a limited extent, but it has no relation whatever to evac- uation or defecation. No matter how drastic the physic or how frequently it is taken, it has no effect on excre- tion or elimination.
 The colon has been termed the human garbage box" or sewer" Very well. Don't be silly about it. After you have thrown waste mat ter into the garbage receptacle or after you have poured poison down the drain or sewer, you don't worry about it any more, unless the gar bage receptacle is damaged or the sewer becomes obStructed.
 Even the venerable Dr. John liar vey Kellogg, whose teachings about "alimentary toxemia or intestinal standardization" have influenced the thought of many laymen as well as physicians, accorded at least a Pickwickian recognition to the fact that some persons with constipation do not have any symptoms of tox- emia (autointoxication). When the intestinal mucous membrane is in- tact" he wrote, it is able to ex- clude most of the intestinal poisons, acting like a filter, which permits only the useful substances to enter the blood" He acknowledged also the power of the liver and that Of the thyroid gland to destroy, oxidize or render innocuous substances of toxic nature which might get into the blood. But the Sage of Battle Creek still held his followers to their three-a-day tent by promulgating the volivesque doctrine that "the fact that the symptoms of toxemia do not occur in every case is no ev- idence that they are not present" :" That just about made 1t unanimous.
 Raw Meat
 Is there any harm in eating raw