FASTING
brain in each instance in the cases cited was thoroughly dissected.
Through the facts related, the immediate cause of death in every instance quoted can easily be traced to its origin. Organic deficiency is the direct result of functional digestive impairment. The scientific worth of this observation is much enhanced by the fact that in these autopsies the organs were presented unaffected by recent drug paralysis. The cases that exhibited glands that were hardened or atrophied were invariably of an emaciated or wiry physique, while those in which a softening of the organs had occurred were inclined to obesity. It is also interesting to note that, where mental control was lacking at any stage of the fast, the colon at dissection showed displacement and distortion that rendered evacuation of its contents almost impossible, even with enemata.
From the scientific viewpoint the observations included in the present chapter are undoubtedly of greatest import in the text. By them the theory of Fasting for the Cure of Disease is substantiated as a fact, and proof of its efficacy as a remedy is rendered incontrovertible.
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