Another favorite objection is that “it causes the intestines to become weakened and dependent upon this unnatural method.” To this I reply that it is a well-known fact that at least fifty per cent. of people in civilized (?) communities are slaves to the purgative habit, the system refusing to fulfil its functions without this unnatural excitation; therefore, if dependence must be placed in something, we should unhesitatingly give the preference to water, as against cathartics, but the whole weight of evidence shows that the objection has no foundation in fact. On this subject Dr. Forrest said: “Flushing the colon does not cause a weakening of the intestines. When this procedure is no longer necessary, owing to restored health, the intestines have also been restored and improved in tone and will carry on their functions unaided.” Dr. Stevens, who has used the treatment upon himself and patients for over twenty years, says that it in no wise interferes in his case with the normal movement of the bowels. To test it in this respect he has frequently discontinued its use for a week, with the result of a regular movement, as soon as enough fæcal matter had accumulated to demand it. He recommends flushing every two or three days as a preventive of disease. For over twenty years he has practiced flushing upon himself as a precaution, and, although now between seventy and eighty years old, since beginning its use he has never known a day of sickness. It is contended by some people, including a percentage of physicians (who should know better), that the frequent use of this treatment will so stretch the colon that it will remain permanently distended. This argument is so totally opposed to physiological law, to say nothing of experience and common sense, that it is almost laughable. The veriest tyro in the matter of exercise knows that exercise develops a muscle; that repeated flexion and extension of the arm, for instance, will strengthen the muscles of that limb, not cause them to lose their contractibility. All muscle fibres are alike in structure, except that some are voluntary, others involuntary, but that difference is simply due to the difference in the source of nerve supply. There is no reason that can be shown why the muscles of the colon should lose their elasticity through exercise in contra-distinction to all the other muscles of the body, since they are not subjected to any extraordinary strain, the extreme tension only lasting for a few seconds, while as soon as the water commences to escape, relaxation follows, and, in addition, heat acts as a stimulant. The objection does not even merit serious consideration.