Every particle of animal or vegetable matter, even if only a single grain in weight, by exposure to the air, _putrefies_, breeds, and attracts to itself thousands of microbes, and becomes a center of infection. Thus, in a piece of street dirt containing organic matter, we may find upon examination, the germs of typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever, or consumption. When this piece of dirt is dried by the sun and pulverized by horses’ hoofs and the wheels of vehicles, the particles of dirt are caught up by the wind, and sent whirling through the air, to be drawn into the lungs by those within reach. Of course, every one who breathes in the microbes of some particular disease does not catch it, or we should soon all be dead, but those who have not the resisting power of sound bodies to kill these germs, before they have time to set up their peculiar inflammation, are apt to realize the evil effects, a week, a month, or even a year afterwards. It is evident then that to _cure_ disease we must get rid of all fermentation in the system, and thus prevent the further breeding of microbes; and to _prevent_ disease we must get the system into such a sound, healthy condition that disease germs cannot obtain a lodgment in it. Now, this can only be accomplished by thoroughly cleansing the colon, and keeping it absolutely clean, thus preventing further contamination of the blood current--the fountain of life. The intelligent reader, recognizing the absolute correctness of the foregoing proposition, will naturally ask, “Can such a thing be accomplished, and how?” We beg to assure the reader, most emphatically, that it can, but not by the means usually employed. It is perfectly plain that the cleansing process cannot be effected by cathartics, for at the best, they only afford temporary relief (witness the growth of the cathartic habit), while on an impacted mass such as is commonly present in the colon, the influence they can exert is practically _nil_. The common experience of those afflicted with constipation is, that they commence with a laxative, gradually increasing the quantity and frequency of the dose until it fails to act at all. Then they resort to a cathartic, with a similar experience, when it is exchanged for a more powerful one, and then for another still more powerful, until at last, it becomes impossible to move the bowels without a powerful dose. That this is no overdrawn picture many of my readers will bear witness, and my brother practitioners can amply corroborate the statement, for they fully recognize the vital importance of removing the waste from the system. The pity of it is that they still persist in employing such a crude and ineffective method. Do any of my readers know how a cathartic acts?