In a normal state of the lower bowel the sigmoid flexure passes its contents into the rectum, and the desire to defecate is reported--that is, the impulse to stool becomes more or less urgent until it is performed. But when all four coats of the anus and rectum are diseased, with perhaps a portion of the sigmoid flexure also, it is very difficult for the healthy portion of the sigmoid flexure and the colon to discharge their contents into the rectum; consequently no call, impulse, or desire reaches the mind. Constipation will then ensue, for the stool, not being called for, is not performed. Every demand of a healthy portion of the intestine is answered by increased contraction of the muscles of the diseased portion of the rectum. While the war between the healthy and the diseased sections of the bowels goes on, the victim naturally concludes that there is no occasion or demand for defecation, and he attends to other affairs, ignorant of the fact that he is thus making a fatal mistake. The first condition that ensues is the tendency of the rectum to fill unduly with feces and gases, impelling the victim to “strain” in order to force the feces through the constricted anal canal. After a while the sigmoid flexure and colon will fill unduly, and then the victim will form the habit of waiting for the feces to descend, and of straining to expel what little manages to escape through the diseased gut. A portion of the imprisoned feces in the healthy section of the intestine sometimes, at an unguarded moment, manages to distribute itself along the length of the diseased and constricted canal, where it is retained indefinitely, increasing the local irritation. And when the fecal mass accumulates sufficiently in both the healthy and the diseased portions of the intestines to set up a vigorous excitement, the victim may, by the aid of his waiting and straining habit (which habit, by the way, only torments and bruises the chronically diseased organs), bring on some sort of evacuation. In the early history of the disease this habit may serve for a time; but, as the disease progresses, the “laxative” habit is formed, which, in turn, settles into a chronic “drug” habit for all sorts and conditions of gastro-intestinal and other ills, which inevitably ensue. As the ravages of chronic inflammation of the anus and rectum increase, the symptoms rapidly multiply, till finally the victim, in desperation, feels that he must find additional sources of relief--and, among other habits, he forms the “diet” habit.