Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/282

 subsidence of disease, early opposition was conquered by faith in the outcome.

The fast was typical, and was remarkable in nothing save its length. The loss in weight was not unusual, and at the end of the fast but thirty-two pounds had been eliminated, and the patient weighed on this date 140 pounds. Until the twentieth day chilliness and temperature below normal were noted, and, while pulse and temperature remained below register in the early stages, by the sixth week normal register had been reached. The enemas contained solid feces until one-third of the fast had been finished, and thereafter, until the last week of abstinence, large quantities of yellowish-white mucus were discharged. This catarrhal refuse indicated that elimination had been re-established through normal avenues. Up to this point the greater part of internal filth had been cast off through the pores of the skin, an abnormal condition that had directly caused the suppurating areas on the surface of the body.

It was not until the fourth week that visible improvement in the exuding sores became noticeable in any degree. The itching subsided with the cessation of exudation, and the latter began to diminish to an appreciable