Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/45

 warnings may be present in summer or in winter, and they must promptly be heeded regardless of personal inclination or of climatic condition. To wait until disease develops locally is disastrous, and diagnosis is unnecessary, for natural treatment in any and all illness is identical in essence, and varies only in minor details. True, it is more pleasant to carry out a fast in warm weather, but this should never deter an ailing body from fasting in winter. Artificial means of maintaining room temperature are always available, and the hygienic requirements may be utilized with equal success whether the outer air be warm or cold.

As a matter of fact the substance of the argument indicates that winter is the natural season of rest and recuperation. Outdoor nature is dormant. Many animals hibernate, and all prepare for the growing period, the resurrection of spring. Mankind, because of artificial environment and custom, and with the mistaken idea that body-heat is derived entirely from fuel consumed, from food ingested, eats more heavily in winter, and approaches spring with a system overloaded with waste and in no condition to meet the work-time of the year. Spring-fever and