It may be accepted as a truism that success invariably excites envy, therefore, it is but reasonable that the astounding results that have attended this method of treatment should have aroused a certain amount of antagonism. The hardy individual who dares to propose a new departure in the method of treating disease must be prepared to hear his theories ridiculed, his system denounced, and, possibly, his motives impugned. Consequently, it is not surprising that the “Cascade Treatment” has some objections urged against it.
The first objection I am confronted with is, “it is not natural.” I willingly concede that point, and will add that neither is an obstructed and engorged colon natural.
We are living (in a large measure) an artificial life. In his barbaric state man obeyed the calls of nature without regard to time or place, and it is safe to assert that under those conditions an obstructed colon was an unknown quantity. But in deference to the demands of civilized life we disregard Nature’s calls and defer the response until a convenient opportunity presents itself, and for this violation of natural law, a penalty is inflicted.
An obstructed colon, therefore, being itself unnatural, man is obviously justified in using the brains that Nature has endowed him with to cleanse it. An artificial limb is unnatural, but would the same objection hold good that because a man has had the misfortune to suffer amputation, he must, therefore, limp through life on crutches, rather than use the mechanical substitute that man’s ingenuity has devised?
Common sense teaches us, and experience has amply confirmed the teaching, that flushing is not only the easiest, but the most effectual means of accomplishing this purpose; and it is unmistakably the most harmless, inasmuch as we use Nature’s most simple and effective cleansing agency in the process--pure water. Sickness is in itself unnatural, and until the system can be restored to its natural condition reason plainly shows us that we must co-operate with Nature and assist in removing these impurities from the system, a task which our disregard of her warnings has prevented her from accomplishing. Cathartics simply excite the excretory processes, and stimulate Nature to a violent effort to expel them, the unnatural exertion being followed by a feeling of languor, for all purgative action is debilitating. Flushing, on the contrary, acts directly on the accumulated matter in the colon (which cathartics never do), and, instead of causing an unnatural excitation of any of the natural processes, it induces a calm, restful feeling and a sense of profound relief.