Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/287

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was such at this time as to place her well forward on the road to perfect recovery.

In concluding the history of this case, attention is again called to the healing of a scrof ular abscess to the point of complete and healthy closure while the fast was in progress.

Another instance is that of a woman of 28 in whom poor nutrition and what is called a bilious temperament had brought about a condition that manifested itself in periodical headaches and in melancholia with a tendency toward mania. But for the care and devotion of an older sister, the patient would have been placed in an asylum long before coming under observation. In fact, it was because the physician last consulted had recommended that she be restrained that her relatives, in despair, resorted to the fast.

Examination showed a pulse continually at 128 and a temperature that varied from above to below normal with no apparent reason. The diet of the patient had consisted largely of meat and its extracts, and this was at once changed to vegetable broths, while the daily enemas were vigorously applied. At first hot towel packs were used upon the spine in order to control the circulation and