mall and large intestines, poisons
of all kinds are generated and absorbed into the circulation, thus
creating conditions ranging all the way from a feeling of lethargy to a
condition of weakness and disease that confines one to an invalid's bed.
Regardless of the attention that you may give to the other information
in this book, it is extremely important that you should realize the
necessity for active elimination.

It is necessary in the maintenance of alimentary health to avoid a
slavish adherence to the theory of definitely regular movements of the
bowels and still not to make the mistake of allowing them to become
chronically sluggish or irregular. As a rule you should depend upon
having regular movements each day, though if occasionally a day is
missed you should not allow this deviation to worry you.

Recognizing as I do the great importance of a healthy alimentary canal I
have given a vast amount of attention to the various methods which have
been suggested from time to time by students of natural healing for
assisting to regulate the functional processes of this important part of
our organism. The flushing of the lower bowel for instance has been
widely recommended, and it is unquestionably of value in some cases.
However, it cleanses only the lower part of the alimentary canal, that
is to say, the colon. It assists the small intestines no doubt by
giving their contents free access to the colon, but yet this aid cannot
directly affect them. If you have in view the cleansing of the
entire alimentary canal from stomach to rectum, the enema is often of
indifferent value. The use of various laxative foods can be recommended
in most instances, though even these sometimes fail to bring about
satisfying results, and then again there are cases where they provide a
remedy for only a short period, after which the bowels resume their old
state of chronic torpidity. Naturally we cannot consider cathartics of
any kind, notwithstanding their power to produce temporary results. In
all cases the after effects of their use are seriously destructive
to the delicate nerves controlling the alimentary canal and its
functions in general. Cathartics invariably make the real condition more
obstinate and serious.

It is well to remember that the real cause of constipation in virtually
every instance, is the want of vital vigor of the structures and tissues
involved. Digestion, though to a certain extent a c