st until the world recognizes a relief which is absolutely
safe, without the loss of a drop of blood, that has for its foundation
and philosophy a fact based upon the longitudinal contractile ability of
the appendix itself, which is able to eject by its natural forces any
substances that may by an unnatural move be forced into the appendix.[8]

[Footnote 8: My first Osteopathic treatment for appendicitis was in
1877, at which time I operated on a Mr. Surratt and gave permanent
relief. During the early eighties I treated and permanently cured Mrs
Emily Pickler of Kirksville, mother of our representative, S. M.
Pickler, and mother of ex-congressman John A. Pickler of South Dakota.
The infirmary has had bad cases of appendicitis probably running up into
hundreds without failing to relieve and cure a single case. The ability
of the appendix to receive and discharge foreign substances is taught in
the American School of Osteopathy and is successfully practiced by its
diplomates. In the case of Mr. Surratt I found lateral twist of lumbar
bones; I adjusted spine, lifted bowels, and he got well. When I was
called to Mrs. Pickler she had been put on light diet, by the surgeon,
preparatory to the knife. She soon recovered under my treatment without
any surgical operation and is alive and well to this date.]

EXPELLING POWER OF THE VERMIFORM APPENDIX.

To a philosopher such questions as this must arise: Has the appendix at
its entrance a sphincter muscle similar in action to that of the rectum
and oesophagus? Has it the power to contract and dilate?--contract and
shorten in its length and eject all substances when the nerves are in a
normal condition? And where is the nerve that failed to execute the
expulsion of any substance that may enter the cavity of the appendix?
Has God been so forgetful as to leave the appendix in such condition as
to receive foreign bodies without preparing it by contraction or
otherwise to throw out such substances? If He has He surely forgot part
of His work. So reason has concluded for me, and on that line I have
proceeded to operate for twenty-five years without pain or misery to the
patient, and given permanent relief in all cases that have come to me.
With the former diagnosis of doctors and surgeons that appendicitis was
the malady, and the choice of relief was the knife or death, or possibly
both, many such cases have come for Osteopathic treatment, and
examination has revealed that in every ca