Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/88

 moments until removed. Manipulation of the abdomen together with hot water application's are of great assistance in this event, since they tend to reduce inflated intestines by stimulating peristalsis, and thus bring about the discharge of the gas. The enema is also of the utmost value in these circumstances and must be employed.

In all cases in the fast the evacuations from the bowels are strikingly similar. Floating in a brownish fluid that shades to black in color are old f eces more or less abundant in quantity. The latter are present for many days, and are evidence of the former statement that overworked bowels do not fully discharge their contents even when regular in action.

The more usual indication of disease as it affects body temperature is fever, but it is guite frequently the case that in anaemic subjects, shortly after the beginning of a fast, the temperature drops to a degree or so below normal. This is caused by the absence of food stimulation, for a fast never lowers temperature. The latter is always below register in instances of long-standing debility, and it is high in proportion to the severity of acute disease. The fast tends to