(internal and
external), as well as and above all, pure, high-minded thoughts and
serene temper--the outcome of the habit of viewing life
philosophically. Care should be taken to protect the feet and body from
sudden climatic changes, thus avoiding catarrhal troubles, especially
of the lower bowels.

As to the wise and proper use of nature's pharmacopoeia, nothing need
be said here. However, I may be within my limits when I advise patients
to use a little sense and not neglect disease of the lower bowel any
more than they would neglect that of the eye, ear and throat. In the
latter case they submit at once to an examination. Why not in the
former? Let them bear in mind that the cure of chronic proctitis is no
holiday job; that it is, on the contrary, a task which requires
constant attention. To merely relieve the annoying symptoms that
accompany it cannot be called a cure. But on the other hand relief may
be the commencement of a cure. Of course the true way of looking at the
subject of this disease is to regard the cure of proctitis as
necessarily leading to the disappearance in time of all the other
troubles that were the outcome of that ailment. Through the harmonious
efforts of patient and physician, marvellous results are often
obtainable.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE BODY'S BOOK-KEEPING.

Man's food is as varied as his work, more varied than the climate, with
one food for the luxurious and one for the poor. The majority of us
take what we can get, making no complaints; even when we have a cook
and a good one the same is true. The ideal diet prepared by the ideal
cook no one has as yet made fashionable, but one thing is within the
reach of all--cleanliness of the sewers of the body. Keep the contents
of the bowels moving down and out steadily and regularly and you may
eat almost any food and in almost any preparation and still be healthy.

Just as a steam-engine, running at a given rate of speed, must be
supplied with fuel sufficient to maintain that speed, so the human body
must have the requisite food to maintain the speed of civilized society
and business, and replace the waste of the tissues; otherwise decline
sets in and the reserve store of strength is exhausted. How shall we
determine the proper amount and kind of food for the various ages,
sexes, and conditions of life?

A leading authority says that the character and amount of the daily
excreta furnish suggestions as to the required food supply. (K