Page:Macfadden's Fasting, Hydropathy and Exercise.djvu/93

Rh system participates in the influence of the stimulant. But as soon as the problem of expurgation has been solved, a debilitating reaction sets in; the organism sinks under the exhausting after-effects of the unnatural irritant, the mind is clouded by lingering poison-fumes, the depression of vital energy avenges itself by protracted languor, and the misery of mental gloom.

The benefits of the refrigeration tonic, on the other hand, are not modified by the risk of such penalties. The stimulating effect abides. And the first flush of that effect more than equals the bracing influence of the best drug-tonic. A cold bath renews the tension of nerve-vigor almost like refreshing sleep; its mental effect induces all the pleasant and none of the objectionable symptoms of intoxication.

Like fasting and exercise, hydrotherapy is a true remedy, relieving the ailments of the human organism without exacting a price that makes the cure a greater curse than the evil.