generally recognized, as it is today by a few, that the so-called
pathogenic bacteria or germs have no power to injure a healthy body,
that there is bodily degeneration first and then the system becomes a
favorable culture medium for germs: In other words, disease comes first
and the pathogenic bacteria multiply afterwards. This view may seem very
ridiculous to the majority, for it is a strong tenet of popular medical
belief today that micro-organisms are the cause of most diseases.

To most people, medical and lay, the various diseases stand out clear
and individual. Typhoid fever is one disease. Pneumonia is an entirely
different one. Surely this is so, they say, for is not typhoid fever due
to the bacillus typhosus and pneumonia to the pneumococcus? But it is
not so. Outside of mechanical injuries there is but one disease, and the
various conditions that we dignify with individual names are but
manifestations of this disease. The parent disease is filthiness, and
its manifestations vary according to circumstances and individuals.

This filthiness is not of the skin, but of the interior of the body. The
blood stream becomes unclean, principally because of indigestion and
constipation, which are chiefly due to improper eating habits. Some of
the contributory causes are wrong thinking, too little exercise, lack of
fresh air, and ingestion of sedatives and stimulants which upset the
assimilative and excretory functions of the body. In all cases the blood
is unclean. The patient is suffering from autointoxication or
autotoxemia.

If this is true, it would follow that the treatment of all diseases is
about the same. For instance, it would be necessary to give about the
same treatment for eczema as for pneumonia. Basically, that is exactly
what has to be done to obtain the best results, though the variation in