d by the small intestines. Savages
have four or five movements a day, and we certainly should not have
less than three. People of refined sentiments will, at such a
disclosure, bestir themselves to better things.

Water, when properly applied, is the only remedy that meets the
physiological and pathological requirements of the chronically
constipated. By its use the diseased, spasmodically contracted muscular
tube is simply dilated, and the imprisoned feces and gases above are
permitted to pass down and through the temporarily occluded section of
the diseased bowels, the patient will have the consciousness of neatly
accomplishing an imperative requirement, and the satisfaction which
cleanliness entails.

CHAPTER XXIII.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD AN ENEMA BE TAKEN?

The following lines will show you how advertising is done in medical
journals. "Dear Doctor: The spring being the time for cathartics, I beg
to call your attention to R. L. (yellow label),..."

Why is spring a special time for cathartics? Has the intestinal canal
been obstructed like the Erie Canal during the winter months? With as
much propriety they might advertise: "Dear Doctor: The spring being the
time for bathing, I beg to call your attention to antiseptic bath
soap,..."

I suppose that a sort of annual cleansing of the alimentary canal is
suggested so that the summer heat may be less objectionable, as it
warms up foul bodies. However, attention once a year is better than
none at all, as said of the Augean stables.

Not long ago I had a conversation with the proprietor of a bath cabinet
company, who had given some thought to hygienic measures, and he
considered it essential to flush the bowels with water once a month to
secure "proper cleanliness." This opinion is quite in advance of the
annual cathartic cleansing. Some people may have acquired the habit of
a monthly cathartic "cleansing"; others wash out once a week, and a few
once a day: all of them act from their idea of cleanliness, as they
would perform the ablution of their hands, face and body. There are
some hygienic students who have adopted the idea of "cleansing" the
bowels with warm water once or twice a week, which practice is quite in
advance of the annual or monthly attention. All have reasons for the
manner and time they adopt to "cleanse" the bowels; and yet they find
that they are not cleansed properly, as they still have spells of
biliousness and misery. They wonder at themsel