Introduction - There are many ways of contemplating and assessing human beings and their activities. Individuals may be assessed in rela­tion to their colour, creed or cultural environment; according to physique, athletic prowess, financial or social status, education, artistic gifts, and so on, more or less endlessly.

There is one way of contemplating not only mankind as a whole but also individuals; a way which seems peculiarly appro­priate to modern times.

Preface - Several patients of mine, and others, who have read my articles, which have appeared from time to time in the various health jour­nals, have been doing their best to induce me to have them in­corporated in a book. I, however, shelved the idea, but it had evidently taken root in my mind, for I have now put it into effect, in that I have made a selection of those articles, which, so I believe, will be the most readable and, above all, the most practical in their therapeutic value. Some of them have been revised and amplified.

01. Respiratory Therapy - High Blood Pressure is one of the most prevalent complaints of the present day, and whilst not being a disease in itself it can be productive of many. Apart from somewhat alleviating the condition drug therapy is not the answer and it can make confusion worse confounded in the long run.

Both hypertension and hypotension are circulatory disorders, and as the breathing or respiratory centre in the brain is quite close to the circulatory centre it should now occasion no surprise for readers to learn that breathing has an enormous influence upon the circulation and hence upon the regulation of the blood pressure.

02. Curative power - No man made instrument can ever match the exquisite beauty of tone and cadence of the natural, unspoilt or cultured human voice.

Now many ailments can be cured, alleviated, and what is of greater moment, prevented by voice culture, which, of necessity, involves full, rhythmic breathing; the very basis of good sound production. The use we put that sound to depends again upon the training in the correct use of the tongue and lips, and English people generally are woefully lazy in this particular respect, speak­ing through their teeth and mumbling their words

03. Smoking - Quite recently I read in a German Health journal what a German medical specialist had to say on the subject of smoking and cancer of the lungs, and as I consider it to be of vital importance also to our English readers I feel it incumbent upon me to pass on the information here.

Dr. F. Lickint working in the statistical department of the State Hospital of Dresden-Friedrichstandt found that the number of deaths from lung cancer in the male rose by fifteen times from 1900 to 1955, by more than thirty times in the whole of Switzerland from 1905 to 1949, and by even more than forty times in England and Wales from 1899 to 1947.

04. Cupping therapy - Cupping, as it is called in English, is one of the oldest forms of therapy, and is very effective in the treatment of a variety of com­plaints. It is known in France as "ventouse," in Germany as "Schroepfen," and in America as "vacuum" or "pneumatic" treat­ment, and in these countries it is far more widely used by the medical profession as well as by the laity, more especially by the peasants on the Continent.

05. Psychotherapy - The word "psycho-therapy" sounds odd, docs it not, at least the first half. It is derived from the Greek, and must not be con­fused with the word "psycho-therapy" as "psyche," also of Greek origin, means the soul, the mind whereas "psychos" means "cool." Psychotherapy therefore signifies treatment by cooling, and the method used to achieve the necessary degree of cooling for thera­peutic purposes, is freezing.

06. Osteopathy - No parent or anyone else with feeling can possibly witness, un­moved, the fight for breath a child has to make when in the throes of a choking spasm occasioned by that intractible and most dis­tressing complaint of whooping cough and the onlooker not being able to do anything to relieve the condition. All is well after the spasm is over, i.e., until another attack occurs, and another, and so on, for a long period of time.

07. Your feet - In my London practice before and partly during the last war, I devoted the whole of my time to specialising in osteopathic treat­ment of the feet, the demand for which far exceeded the supply of hours available. This evidenced the dire need for such treatment and amply confirmed statistical data that three out of every five persons suffer some disability from their feet.

08. Feet first - That this is an age of foot-consciousness is emphasised by the number of shoe shops which specialise in "correct" footwear. People generally seem to be waking up to the fact that foot troubles can produce many ailments in other parts of the body even far removed from the cause and which were formerly not suspected of having their origin in the feet.

09. Bunions - What parent who loves babies has not gazed with rapt admiration and with the tenderest feelings at the lovely little feet of his infant! Babies, with the fewest exceptions, are born with normal feet, feet that are as perfect in their design and structure as any artist could wish, having in them all the potentialities for their future correct functioning. What wonderful and beautiful little struct­ures they are !

10. Why exercise! - The title of this article is an exclamation and not a question, but if it had been put in the form of a question, "Why perform exer­cises?" it might well have been countered by another question, viz., "Why not exercise?" Is it not essential to discipline our­selves to the daily performance of physical exercises not only in order to become fit but to keep in good health? It is the purpose of this article to answer the question.

11. Reflex therapy - At the commencement of the twentieth century an English phy­sician by the name of Henry Head discovered and disclosed a new method of diagnosis, which, most unfortunately, has largely faded into oblivion from the minds of the elite in medical circles; but which is now being revived especially on the Continent, so that it is sure of receiving full recognition in the perhaps not too distant future.

12. Chinese acupuncture - Acupuncture is a method of treating disease, which was dis­covered and used by the Chinese, in their great oriental wisdom, over five thousand years ago, i.e. three thousand years before Christ. The Chinese postulated that there are two vital forces at work in the universe, named respectively Yinn and Yang. Yinn has the attributes of the moon, viz. "silver," softness, femininity, also coldness, whereas Yang has the quality of gold, copper, warmth, strength, masculinity.

13. Chinese pulse - The taking of the pulse rate and noting the strength of the beats have been, and still are important procedures for a long time now in medical practice; but this act is restricted to just one radial pulse located on the thumb side of the hand near to the wrist joint. It is helpful, diagostically, only in a general way, and is not related to any specific organ of the body, except the heart.

14. Sea water - Not so long ago a remarkable scientific treatise on the "Pharm­acology of Sea Water" by Dr. Weiss was sent to me from Germany. It is a very comprehensive work, and is compiled with character­istic tectonic thoroughness. No pains seemed to have been spared in the extensive research that has been made by numerous German doctors as to the curative properties of sea water, with its all em­bracing chemical constituents, and also its richness in trace-elements such as gold, silver, copper, etc., so essential for the normal func­tioning of the body, and without which life could not be sustained.

15. Garlic - These days a great deal of publicity is given to the so-called "wonder drugs"; but as unforeseen detrimental side-effects be­come apparent and prove most disconcerting to those of the medical profession who use them, the qualifying word "wonder" loses its potency. Not so, however, with garlic.

The excellent effect of this wonder herb has been known by folk medicine for a very long time. Its splendid therapeutic reputation is extremely old. Garlic is mentioned no less than twenty-two times in the medical prescriptions of the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus 2000 B.C.

16. Irish diagnosis - Eighty years have elapsed since the discovery of Iris-diagnosis by Dr. Peczely, and readers of this book—yes, even those who have gone into the subject of iris-diagnosis more thoroughly and enriched it with valuable observations and new discoveries, know very little about the discoverer himself and of his life and work. Therefore, it will certainly prove of interest to our readers to bring before them a faithful portrait of the discoverer, Dr. Ignaz von Peczely.

17. Wakefulness - There are probably few of us who have not experienced an uneasy wakefulness at nights after a short time in bed. The brain may not be unduly active, but an uncomfortable warmth is generated with a fullness in the head, and we seek ease by twisting and turn­ing, which produces further stimulation and an increasing warmth.

This state may also arise after waking from an hour or so's disturbed sleep; instead of enjoying a comforting warmth we suf­fer from a disagreeable heat and head congestion. We try to woo sleep, but all in vain.

18. Rheumatic pains - Some time ago I read in a German medical journal what a Dr. W. Schotten of Berlin had to say about feather beds and pillows in regard to rheumatic pains. I now pass on this information here for the benefit of the countless sufferers from this crippling complaint.

It is a known fact that rheumatic sufferers often experience an increase of pain when they are lying in a feather bed. It has frequently been observed that the pain increased with long lying and that it became almost unbearable when the patient became really warm.

19. Eating - I AM never going to eat again. Eating is unhealthy; it is dangerous. All foods that do me good, harm me. So science maintains.

Take sugar, for instance: it becomes quickly converted into energy. Tests have shown that after athletes have partaken of a meal containing sugar they accomplish more. But a considerable intake of carbohydrates causes decay of teeth.

20. Mastication - Most people appreciate that thorough mastication of their food is desirable in the interests of health—that it is good for the teeth and that it helps the digestive processes—but very few appear to know why, and, in everyday life the act of mastication receives little or no consideration.

The physiology of digestion has often been dealt with, so in this chapter the subject of mastication will be approached from a somewhat different angle.

21. Pyonex treatment - Very many years ago Carl Baunscheidt, a German, was rest­ing his acutely painful rheumatic hand on a table when he received several stings from a number of gnats. These stings created num­erous very tiny openings on the skin through which toxic matter was eliminated by the action of the insect venom, with the result that the rheumatism in the hand completely disappeared never to return.

22. Stammering - It is the earnest hope of the writer that the two home treatments given herein for dealing with that most distressing complaint of stammering will prove as effective as it has been with his own patients. It is hoped too, that the information will be useful to all those concerned with stammer via: parents, teachers and others who are in charge of children.

23. An adult - Come to think of it, how many of us are really "grown up?" Saint Paul must have recognized that a person, on having reached the age of adulthood, is not necessarily grown up in the sense that he is mentally mature, for paraphrased, did not the great Saint write "When I was a child I did and acted as a child, but when I became an adult I put away childish behavior and acted as a mature person."

24. Resisting ego - It has long been known to psychologists, neurologists, and for that matter, other healers as well, that certain types of patients, classified as neurotics, do not—deep down in themselves—wish to get well, incomprehensible as this must appear to the man in the street. This strange and apparently illogical desire can apply equally to those suffering from so-called organic disease, in spite of the fact that the methods of treatment adopted for effecting a cure are by no means rejected by the patient, but—and this is the point—he will accept them only on certain conditions being fulfilled.

25. Goiter - Goiter is not just a pain which none can see, but is an enlargement of the thyroid gland producing an unsightly swelling in the front of the neck which is visible to all and sundry, thus any improve­ment from treatment can be actually seen without one having to rely solely on the statement of the patient. This makes the case, which I am now about to relate, all the more convincing.

26. Playing with water - In my record files is an old case card which has written on it under the caption of complaint "Patient has an obsession for playing with water." This case provides me with material for an article that may not only prove interesting and instructive to many readers, but may also serve to "ring a bell" in those who suffer from other compulsory acts, or a tendency thereto, and thus this article could be of immense value in helping to effect a release.

27. Intractable cough - A boy of fifteen years of age had suffered from a very severe, hard cough for about eighteen months, which would not yield to any form of medical treatment. The family doctor, and the specialists consulted, were frankly puzzled by the condition and by the lack of response to the therapies prescribed.

The lad's father now decided to bring his son to an osteopath, but examination did not reveal anything osteopathically diagnostic.

28. A cold - As Ido not wish to be thought guilty of plagiarism I must say that this article is based upon one that I read in a German period­ical some time ago, and credit must, therefore, be given to Dr. Heinz Graupner, the originator and author of the ideas upon which I have elaborated.

The doctor started his article with a plea that his readers, in as far as they may be suffering from a cough or a running head-cold, will not be nettled with him because of the title of his article.

29. Colour therapy - Overa long period of time scientists, philosophers, poets and artists have all concerned themselves with colors. Color lore is as old as mankind itself, and, since it was discovered that white light, i.e., daylight, is composed of all the colors of the rainbow and which can be split up into each individual color by means of a prism, physical researches of an exact nature have established the basis on which results of color therapy can be obtained to-day.

30. Healing magnetism - Whence originated the name "MAGNET?" The ancient Roman Plinius, who was famous as a naturalist, asserted that the name came from a shepherd who was called Magnes. One day he acci­dentally contacted a stone with his iron ferruled staff, when he found that the iron ferrule was sticking to it. Thus the lodestone or mag­netic stone was discovered. From the magnetic stone originated the term mineral magnetism.

31. Healing application - Readers of my previous chapter on "HEALING MAGNETISM" will, naturally, wish to know how to apply the treatment to members of their families, as well as to their friends and others, who could be helped by this method.

The following instructions will enable them to try their hand at what has proved to be a most pleasant and effective therapy, when correctly done in faith and with a genuine desire to aid sufferers to be relieved and cured of their physical and mental troubles.

32. Disseminated - It is the purpose of this chapter to describe certain drugless treat­ments, which have given some very encouraging and progressive results, in spite of the fact that disseminated sclerosis is considered to be incurable by the medical profession all over the world. Cases have been recorded which have been cured or at least permanently improved, the progress of the disease having been arrested either spontaneously or it could reasonably be attributed to the therapy employed.

33. Healing earth - It will readily be conceded that anything that will enhance the general health of the body and mind will also exercise a beneficial influence upon any "specific" or "local" disease.

For this reason I feel justified in writing this chapter on the value of Healing Clay.

All living things have developed out of the crust of our earth, including man himself, life being maintained by the earth's various constituents as well as by cosmic forces acting and reacting upon the earth.

34. Emetic therapy - There is an anecdote in the history of medicine that Louis IX, King of France, had been suffering from a very dangerous malignant fever. All the available medical authorities at the time had been consulted, but in vain. The King had been declared to be a hopeless case. Finally, he was abandoned to the sorcerers and charlatans. One of them, quite in accordance with an ancient doctrine, administered an emetic with the result that the King recovered within a few days.

THE END