THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1912. THE "FAST CURE."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10553, 8 February 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1912. THE "FAST CURE."

The finding of the jury in- the Hazxard ease m. America will com© as a shock to those extraordinary individuals who claim tuat the ills to wjtiich mankind is heir will depart with the abstention from food, it may ; be true that "men live not by bread alone." The addition of a. little but-ter-fat,- and. an occasional slice ' of bacon, will act as a salve to the.conscience and a comfort to the intern il economy. There are "cranks',' in every walk of life; but he is a dangerous individual who induces' his fel-low-man to practice habits which are in defiance .'of. the- iaws of nature. Providence, in the •'wisdom o-f 1 its dispensation, lias decreed that the human system sliall be supplied with a'certain, amount of fuel. This is necessary v to keep the machinery in g<>ing order. As in .inanimate forms of mechanism an over-supply of fuel or lubrication is calculated to produce a clogging of ithe vital parts, so in the human structure ail over-indulgpnee in food supply produces ill effects. The real art of living in health is to conform, as far as possible, to ■ tha laws of nature. Mature has provided that the lower, as well as higher animals sliall gain strength by the consumption of food when, they are hungry, and by periods - of rest and relaxation. Thus we find the calif, the foal, the infant looking to the mother for nutriment as soon as tliey awaken in the morning. If it he rational for a human being to deny himself his breakfast, it should bo rational for the horse and the ox to do likewise, j The advocate of "no breakfast'' j would surely not contend that a horse

would produce better results in the harvest field, by being denied his morning meal, or that tlie cow" would yield a greater quantity of milk if it were forbidden its early meal of hay? The proposition is, of course, opposed to reason. Why, then, should human beings be regarded in a different light? Jji bone, and substance, and vi'tal force they are constructed on similar lines. It may be that people do not eat and , drink wisely. The lack of wisdom is not so much, however, ia the quantity of 'food consumed, as 1.1 the variety. A horse fed on leather would not survive a winter, and a cow whose chief article of diet was clothes-pegs would not produce an excess of but-ter-fat. So also with the. liiglier animal. Man cannot expect to escape indigestion, and gout, and rheumatism, and cancer, and obesity if he converts his system into a receptacle for rubbish. A pint of fresh milk in. the morning would do no man injury, provided it did not contain the germs of tuberculosis. A new-laid egg or a chop would not prove fatal, either. But if one were to load Lis system with a variety of courses, and then expect to be amiable and comfortable, he , would make a, huge mistake. It is the excessive indulgence in food and drink which produces sickness. . The man who. desires to live a healthy liife should practic moderation, and eat plain, unadulterated foods. The crank who says that cancer, and tuberculosis, and other diseases can be cured by an abstention from eating for a lengthy period, would argue that the wheels of an engine, which are clogged with lubrication, would be given almost perpetual motion if the supply of the lubrication were entirely withheld for, say, a month. The idea is, of course, absurd. The m'an who says he hasbeen cured of a long-standing disease by fasting for a period has a decided kinlp.' ; There may be individual cases. in which persons have obtained, relief by fasting. There are also Cases in which relief has been secured by the administration of drugs. One only enough of either, however, to be translated to a sphere where even paper-bag cookery is unknown.