Page:Linda Hazzard - Fasting for the cure of disease.djvu/94

 their functions impeded because of defect in structure in themselves or in the intestines, or because of excess of waste, the salivary glands excrete in quantity, and constant expectoration of viscous, foul-smelling spittle is symptomatic of the conditions described. This symptom abates and ceases as the functions are restored, and it may be much alleviated by hot baths and by sweat-inducing fomentations.

The headaches of the fast are invariably located in the frontal portion of the brain, and are coincident with the prior stage of abstinence, when the system is accomodating itself to the physiological change of habit then in progress. As elimination proceeds this symptom disappears, and, in functional disturbances, the brain experiences more rapid relief from pain and distress than do the other organs. Connected with headache, when organic defects exist, are visual spectra and flashes of light. A muscular tremor, accompanied with a rotary motion of the eyeball, or even with crossed eyes and faulty vision, sometimes appears in the graver forms of organic disease. This peculiar variation in symptom has been observed shortly before death in the fast, and in