, as is also the use of agar-agar, a Japanese
seaweed product. This is not digested and absorbed, but acts as a
water-carrier and a sweep to the intestinal tract. It should be taken
without admixture with laxative drugs.

[Sidenote: Mineral Oils]

Paraffin oil is especially good as an intestinal lubricant to assist the
food to slip through the intestinal tube at the proper rate of progress,
provided the oil is first freed, by long-continued shaking with water,
from certain dangerous impurities. Many refined preparations are on the
market for use in constipation. Underweight people should not use these
oils unless properly prescribed by a physician.

[Sidenote: Avoiding Drugs]

It is advisable, in general, to avoid cathartics except under medical
supervision, since certain drugs are often very harmful when their use
is long continued and the longer they are used the more dependent on
them the user becomes. Laxative drugs, even mineral waters, should never
be used habitually.

[Sidenote: Enemas]

The occasional, but not habitual, use of an enema (with warm water
followed always by a second enema of cool water, to prevent relaxation)
is a temporary expedient.

[Sidenote: Massage of the Colon]

Massage of the abdomen, deep and thorough, with a creeping movement of
the ends of the fingers on the left side of the abdomen from above
downward, also promotes the process of defecation.

The normal man and woman should find no difficulty in having complete
movements regularly two or three times a day by merely living a
reasonable life, being careful especially to avoid overfatigue, to
include sufficient bulk in the food, to take regular exercise,
including, in particular, breathing exercises, and to maintain an erect
carriage.

[Sidenote: Low Seated Water Closets]

High-seated water closets, so often found in institutions, hotels and
private houses, often favor constipation, as they do not permit of the
proper physiological attitude in defecation. They prevent the individual
from exercising abdominal pressure so essential for this function. Such
seats should be made much lower than they are, or the feet should rest
on a foot stool, in order to attain the proper attitude for thorough
emptying of the intestine.

[Sidenote: Number of Defecations]

Observations on the manlike apes show that they defecate three or four
times a day. Few of the human family have such ideal movements. Millions
are conscious of some short