How, indeed, can it be otherwise? If the Creator has so constituted us that the free play of the lungs and muscles is indispensable to proper intestinal action, it is in vain for us to struggle against the arrangement, and expect to substitute beneficially the stimulus of purgatives for that of the natural play of the muscles. Either we must give up our own obstinate adherence to sedentary pursuits and conform to the divine laws, or we must submit to the punishment inseparable from disobedience, and merely endeavour to mitigate its severity by such partial remedies as lie within our reach. Where bodily weakness, or any other cause, absolutely prevents us from engaging in active bodily exertion, corresponding moderation in eating, and continued kneading and rubbing over the region of the bowels, when used daily and persevered in till the strength is restored, are of great service in promoting their healthy action. Where great sluggishness of the bowels exists, and no exercise can be taken, the rubbing generally requires to be continued for an hour or more daily, or even twice a-day. Sometimes intestinal inaction proceeds from defective mucous secretion on the surface of the internal coat, caused either by errors in diet or by local irritation. When costiveness is excited in this way, a mild diluent regimen will generally remove it. It is in such cases that saline medicines, which act by increasing the mucous secretions, are often very useful; while aloetic and other stimulant purgatives increase the evil by aggravating the irritation.