Nature's healing agents

246 Pages·2016·15.41 MB·English

NATURE'S
HEALING AGENTS
THE MEDICINES OF NATURE
(or THE NATURA SYSTEM)
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By
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SWINBURNE CLYMER M.D.
RS
DORRANCE and COMPANY
Philadelphia
Nature's
Healing
Agents
Other books by R. Swinburne Clymer, M.D.
Diet, The Way to Health
Race Regeneration
Making Health Certain
Your Health and Sanity
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Copyright © 1905, 1926, 1960, 1963
by R. SWINBURNE CLYMER, M.D.
, ,-, /■ " All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 62-21710
Manufactured in the United States of America
Author's Note
The dominant practice of medicine is known as the allopathic
system. What may be generally termed as the opposite of this school
is known as the homeopathic system. The early herbal system of
practice became the Thomsonian system, and out of this emerged, or
developed, the eclectic and later the physicomeddcal system. The
Natura system of practice combined the agents considered most
natural, as used by the Thomsonian, eclectic, and physiomedical
systems, eschewing practically all poisons. The term Natura was
preempted by patent No. 30,604, February 18, 1908 and used con
tinually since then. Numerous concerns and publishers have infringed,
and continue to infringe, on this right to the name for a system of
practice.
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NATURE, THE GREAT PHYSICIAN
Nature, the great physician, if permitted and not interfered with,
will provide man's physical requirements. Sanitation will eliminate
all impurities, so frequently the cause of disease. Nature and sanita
tion, given the opportunity, will prevent disease, or where it is
present, help eliminate it.
The Natura Physician's Creed
The Natura physician is basically religious, spiritually inclined
as were all physicians in times past who loved and lived for their
profession. Their feelings are always with those who suffer, and
their idea is to bring as much relief to the ill as may be in their power.
The Natura physician sees this statement in Genesis 1 :29 as the
Divine law for man's well-being.
This statement as a Divine edict is now more pertinent than ever
in view of the late discoveries made by investigators, especially
biochemists, interested in : What is life? What will offer greater life?
What will sustain life? What will free man from illness brought
about by his own disobedience to natural law?
VI
The Statement of the Law
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"And God said [the Law functioned], Behold,
have given yon every herb bearing seed, which is upon
the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the
fruit of a tree yielding seed to you it shall be for meat.*
;
"And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl
of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the
earth, wherein there is life, I have given green herb for
meat : and it was so. ''—Genesis 1:29, 30.
i.e., food (Author's interpretation).
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PROLOGUE
Until very recently, vegetables, cereals, and fruits were simply
things to eat. In a way everyone, physician and layman, understood
that these substances satisfied the appetite and at the same time
supplied fuel to the body. Beyond this fact neither physician nor
layman had much knowledge or were greatly concerned.
All this has changed. Bio-chemistry, instituted by Schuessler of
Germany, discovered the fundamental fact that health and strength
do not depend so much on the specific substances we ingest as food
but on the vital organic and mineral contents of these substances.
When first cultivated the tomato was thought to be poisonous
even by medical men of standing and was considered a cause of
cancer and partaken of by few people. With its development into a
large, luscious fruit-vegetable, the old idea was thrown into discard
with many other erroneous popular opinions, and the tomato was
accepted both as a wholesome food and as a delicacy. What is the
real, though generally unknown, reason for its popularity? Nothing
less than its richness in organic and mineral elements, possessing as
it does an average of 82.50 potassium, 32.90 sodium, calcium, 29.40
phosphorus, besides other valuable elements, in each one thousand
parts.
Swiss chard, once not even considered either herb or vegetable
but a weed, is now almost as great a favorite as broccoli. Its contents
per one thousand parts are: 62.70 sodium, 44.92 potassium, 21.69
calcium, 19.39 phosphorus, besides other elements just as valuable,
though less in quantity.
Celery is possibly one of the most universally appreciated
vegetables. Not so long ago it was considered an herb, splendid as a
tea for the nervous. Celery, like the tomato and the apple, has
developed from a favorite medicine into a food. Its contents per
thousand parts are: 65.24 sodium, 48.60 potassium, 14.90 calcium,
14.49 phosphorus, and other elements, among which is chlorine,
17.80. Only one other vegetable is richer in this element. Tomatoes
contain 18.00 per 1,000 parts.
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PROLOGUE
Rhubarb is another vegetable that until recently was considered
a medicine of value in constipation. Gradually it was accepted as
good material for delicious pies, then as an appetizing sauce, and
finally, splendid for the making of wine. Its contents per thousand
parts are: 74.50 potassium, 12.55 calcium, 18.41 phosphorus, 6.80
chlorine, and other valued elements.
Lettuce, formerly good food for cattle and chickens, is now a
universal favorite and is preparable in many forms. Its contents per
thousand parts are 74.50 potassium, 26.56 calcium, 14.63 silicon,
13.82 chlorine, and other valued elements.
Beets once were cattle food, but due to their appearance and
appeal to the appetite, gradually found their way to the table as
food for man also. Their contents per thousand parts are 38.70
potassium, 9.00 chlorine, 9.00 sodium, and other elements.
Onions,1 universally liked and as universally despised, are rich
in potassium and phosphorus. They are the ideal remedy in the onset
of colds and all bronchial trouble.
Snap beans (green) now on almost every table contain per
thousand parts : 40.5 calcium, 60.0 magnesium, 99.7 potassium,2 28.6
sodium, 60 manganese, 227 iron, 69 copper, 0.26 cobalt.
There is the lowly and often despised cabbage, now believed
by experimenters to contain an element which will neutralize fall-out.
It contains 0.38 phosphorus, 60.0 calcium, 60.0 magnesium, 99.7 of
protective potassium, 8.6 sodium, 73 boron, 60 manganese, 277 iron,
69 copper, and 0.26 cobalt.
Lettuce, an everyday vegetable, contains at its latest analysis,
71.0 calcium, 49.3 manganese, 53.7 potassium, 12.2 sodium, 37 boron,
196 manganese, 227 iron, 60 copper, 0.19 cobalt.
All vegetables are not only food, but rich in various minerals
and vitamins that are as medicine to the body.
Although herbs, roots, and barks have not as yet been fully
analyzed, they are all rich in these elements, and it is possible that
1. Fifty years ago practically every mother knew how to roast or
bake onions until soft, then squeeze out the juice and sweeten with honey to
give to the children for colds, coughs, even croup or pneumonia. It has lost
none of its virtues. The family physician was called only as a last resort.
2. It is now generally believed that lack of Potassium in the diet may
be a cause of cancer, and that this mineral is required in the successful treat
ment of cancer.