Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/339

 were filled with one hundred and twenty-six stones, one measuring four inches in circumference. The small intestines were collapsed to the pelvis and were intussuscepted midway in their lower portion so that two yards of their length were telescoped into five inches, and this part measured in diameter of lumen only one-quarter inch. All of the small intestines were below normal in size; the transverse colon lay in front of the descending bowel, an abnormality which largely increased the labor of disposing of body waste; the ascending and descending portions of the colon showed lack of development and were cartilaginous in structure; the sigmoid bend and the rectum were of diameter not to exceed that of an adult thumb, and were also in advanced cartilaginous state ; the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas, and the spleen were all in a condition of partial atrophy; the brain and the nerve centers showed no deterioration.

An excuse for surgical intervention sometimes exists, and here was a case in which a condition requiring internal adjustment was presented at the time of the accident noted in its history. Neglected then, life was prolonged by nature in spite of the