have sympathized and condoled with them in their dire
misfortune. But we all know and realize that there are occasions when
we get into awful and painful predicaments, and, when the whole
situation is taken in, it becomes comical and ridiculous, so that for a
time we cannot treat it seriously, even when old Chronic Biliousness
and the mighty knights-errant are having a deadly combat at our
internal and external (and possibly infernal) expense.

CHAPTER XII.

SEMI-CONSTIPATION AND ITS DANGERS.

"At least six times in every fleeting day
Some tribute to the renal functions pay,
And twice or thrice all alvine calls obey."

What has been said thus far has been based on chronic constipation
mainly, and the accompanying intestinal foulness, which condition was
shown to be so annoying that it compelled the sufferer to resort
frequently to some more or less direct and artificial means for the
relief of the bowels and the incidental indigestion. It has been
further shown that many of the chronic cases fail to take on the normal
amount of flesh or lose what flesh they have because of self-poisoning
(auto-infection), which in turn is the outcome of mal-assimilation and
mal-nutrition, and that this consequence must occur wherever there is
an absorption of waste through a checking or disturbance of systemic
functions. Emaciation and anemia are inevitable in such cases. On the
other hand, there are cases that have such great powers of assimilation
and elimination that they are able to stand the invasion of destructive
material, may maintain the normal amount of flesh, or even take on an
abnormal amount, but with the invariable accompaniment of more or less
impoverishment of blood, disturbed circulation, indigestion, and the
usual nervous derangements. The harmful practice of the lean and the
fleshy sufferers of resorting to daily medicines--cathartics,
digestives and tonics--has been commented upon. Willingly do they
squander their money to get relief from an ever-present ailment. Cases
are these of hope deferred that maketh the heart sick.

The primary cause of chronic constipation, namely, proctitis, has been
explained, and its many symptoms, as indicated by the functional
disturbances of many or all of the organs of the body, enumerated.

But beside the cases of chronic constipation--both lean and fat--there
are many sufferers from auto-infection who have only semi-constipation,
or partial evacuation of t