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upon to support one side or the other in the perpetual combat.
Such a condition cannot tend in the long run to the improve-
ment of mankind as a whole.
For, as I shall show later,1 in the case of John Doe and in all
parallel cases, the consciousness of the person concerned is not
changed in regard to the use of the muscular mechanism.
Even if he exercise for six hours daily, on taking up his ordinary
1
For a fuller analysis of this, see pp. 55 et seq. of this volume.
Primitive Remedies and their Defects
10
occupations once more he will immediately revert to the same
muscular habits he has already acquired in connection with
such occupations. For it is clear that John Doe has a wrong
mental attitude towards the uses of his muscular mechanism
in the acts of everyday life. He has been using muscles to do
work for which they were never intended, whilst others, which
should have been continuously employed, have remained
undeveloped, inert, and imperfectly controlled. We may say
in truth that he is suffering from mental and physical delusions
with regard to the uses of his body. To mention but one of
many instances of his lack of recognition of the true uses and
functions of his muscular system, we shall notice that whenever
he thrusts his head forward or throws it back his shoulders
always accompany the movement in either direction, this move-
ment of the shoulders being entirely unconscious and made
without any recognition of the fact that they are being moved.
Now in this condition of mental and physical delusion, the
unfortunate man tries to do something with these mechanisms
which he is unable to control, hoping that by the mere per-
formance of certain physical exercises he can restore his body
to a condition of perfect physical health.
It may be well at this point, seeing that I have admitted the
possibility of some preliminary benefit to John Doe from his
first experience of the " physical-culture " exercises, to show
more in detail why that benefit was not maintained. The fact
is that when this man realized the seriousness of his digestive
troubles he was simply recognizing a symptom and not a primary
cause or causes of his increasing disorders. A proper psycho-
physical examination would have revealed bad habits in his
waking and sleeping moments which tended more or less to
reduce his intra-thoracic capacity to a minimum; such a
minimum is not only harmfully inadequate, but also renders
due functioning of the vital organs practically impossible.
Incidentally it may be of value to consider what this con-
dition of minimum intra-thoracic capacity really means and
to note some of the influences upon the whole organism. For
as this thoracic cavity contains many of the vital organs, all
are the abdominal viscera directly or indirectly influenced
by its capacity. Minimum thoracic capacity means that the
organs within the thorax are harmfully compressed and that
the heart and lungs do not get a proper chance to function
Primitive Remedies and their Defects II
adequately. A harmful strain is thrown upon the heart,
the lungs are not adequately employed or sufficiently aerated,
and the lung tissue deteriorates. The proper distribution of
the blood is interfered with because of the undue accumulation
in the splanchnic area, to the detriment of the lung supply.
As the lungs are the chief distributors of blood, it will be under-
stood that this condition of minimum thoracic capacity inter-
feres with the circulation and general nutrition. The respiratory
processes are employed in sucking in air instead of creating a
partial vacuum in the lungs by a co-ordinated thoracic ex-
pansion which will give atmospheric pressure its opportunity.1
There is an undue intra-abdominal pressure and harmful
flaccidity of the abdominal muscles, which means dropping
of the viscera, imperfect functioning of the liver, kidneys,
bladder, etc., stagnation in the bowels and irritation and
distention of the colon, intestines, etc.; in other words, indi-
gestion, constipation, and all the concomitant disorders and
general impairment of the vital functioning. Let us, for a
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