[Footnote 49: As illustrating this point I will mention the case of M. K., of Troy, N. Y.,——a case of successful (?) self-treatment for catarrh. This patient had for a dozen or more years suffered with nasal catarrh, and had tried most of the advertised “specifics” without avail; in fact, the disorder steadily increased. At last, the twice daily snuffing of slightly soapy water, for some weeks, “cured” him, as he said; but simultaneously with the suppression of the catarrhal discharge there resulted (without, however, any thought of connecting the two events, in the mind of the patient) an excessive flow of urine, extreme thirst, etc., etc.; in short, true diabetes. In this case great relief was experienced from an exclusive diet of skim-milk for five months, the patient swallowing nothing else for that length of time, except two tablespoonfuls, daily, of wheat-bran thoroughly chewed, “for the bowels.” At the end of the five months the patient weighed 210 lbs. This he realized as excessive, and my attention being directed to the case at this point, the patient at my suggestion adopted the bread and fruit diet——discontinuing the skim-milk and bran——and gradually reducing his weight by moderate diet and increased exercise, went on to a complete recovery.] Erysipelatous inflammation of the dropsical limbs; “vomiting may happen at any stage, even the earliest; it is often incontrollable.” Head symptoms, which occur in the more prolonged forms of the complaint, are usually of a convulsive kind, whereas, in acute cases, coma is apt to set in without any such prelude. Epileptic seizures may be preceded by pain in the head, drowsiness, or peculiarity of manner, or may occur without any premonitory sign. Says Dr. Dickinson: “The gouty habit, from whatever circumstance it arise, is one of the more obvious and immediate conditions to which granular disease of the kidneys can be traced.” ... “The disease is a frequent result of gout; this is by far the most important fact in its etiology. It is one of the results of the gouty diathesis (see Rheumatism), and may precede or follow the external manifestations.... It is scarcely necessary to insist ... that the gouty condition comes first.” The fact is that there is a process of degeneration going on throughout the entire structure of the man, even to the last tissue, and the symptoms are all indicative of this; and this is more or less strictly true of all disorders. The naming and classifying of “diseases” is calculated to mystify and mislead: sickness is the proper term for describing them all; self-abuse, in the broadest sense of the word, is the cause of them; and obedience to law, the only means of prevention or cure.