of constipation? It means that in passing through
the bowel the food has given up all its liquid element (which is all its
nourishing element), but the bowel has been too slow in passing it
along. Consequently it is not ready to be expelled while it is yet a
harmless semi-solid mass. It stays in the bowel too long--it begins to
putrefy, bacteria attack it, and it is soon a semi-liquid, foul, rotting
mass. The sucking glands in the intestinal wall continue to suck--that
is their duty. They cannot discriminate between what is good and what is
bad--they simply go on absorbing whatever is there to absorb. So there
are absorbed into the system liquid and gaseous products which are
poison.

This process has been called by a number of names; "self-poisoning"
explains the condition thoroughly. The other names are, auto-infection,
auto-intoxication, enteric-infection, enteric-toxemia, intestinal
indigestion.

The condition is a serious one, because it is absolutely impossible to
feel well, or to enjoy good health, while it lasts. The feeling of being
constantly sick, yet not sick enough to stop working or to demand a
radical cure, affects a woman's efficiency, interferes with her capacity
to work, her ability to render the home an abode of contentment, to be
an agreeable companion, or to adequately take care of her children.

The constant absorption of intestinal poisons affects the system
itself,--the symptoms are headache, neuralgia, loss of appetite,
nervousness, insomnia, vertigo, inability to concentrate, lassitude,
indigestion. The condition which we name constipation is therefore one
of supreme importance. From a medical standpoint, it is the biggest
problem in the whole realm of disease. It is the most significant
hygienic function of life, and it is becoming more and more important,
and more and more a problem. Every modern factor upon which physical
efficiency seems to depend is an enemy to the systematic regulation of
this function. Our method of hurried and indiscriminate eating, our
system of strenuous living, our unsanitary environment, our business
activity, our method of pursuing pleasure, take no account of, and
resent the time devoted to cultivating, as a hygienic necessity, this
toilet requirement. This imperative call of nature is pushed aside by
the child at play, by the housewife for a duty which could wait, by the
merchant for an engagement. It is particularly an American disease, and
it is uniquely an