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The Hygienic-Dietetic Method of Healing
By Dr. Louis Dechmann
Biology, the Science of life, has developed under my hand that system
of natural healing which I practice, in common with some of the most
successful physicians on the continents of Europe and America.
Although based upon the same biological laws, their systems of
therapy—or healing—differ materially from one another. My system is
entirely my own, developed during the last thirty-five years to that
degree of perfection it has attained today.
I am, naturally, honestly proud of the success achieved during this
strenuous period, yet am I still as anxiously imbued as ever with the
spirit and habit of research which is now directed to the endeavour to
further simplify my method of treatment, by further discoveries in the
realm of that most abstruse of the sciences, Physiological Chemistry.
In this baffling but wonderful domain I am inspired by the ambitious
hope that some, at any rate, of the many unsolved problems of the
Science of Life may yet give up their secrets to the demand of my
persistency, exerted in the interest of the well-being of humanity.
The greatest physicians of all time, from Hippocrates to our own day,
were satisfied to be simply natural physicians. They were not satisfied
to merely suppress the symptoms of suffering and to quiet the sufferer
by abnormal appliances. Their higher, more ambitious aim was to reach
the active source of distress—and in this they succeeded.
For, not only did they achieve where others failed, but, in addition to
healing, they also prevented the recurrence of disease, and, more
noteworthy still, they established a system of Prophylactic Therapy,
which is highest function of the healing art; namely, the
prevention of disease by treatment before full development, or, in
other words, the preservation of health.
It is not the object of this brief brochure to enter into the devious
details which a full explanation of this practical, successful, modern
method would require. It is designed merely for those who, after
experiencing disappointment and failure in other directions, have had
recourse, as a last alternative, to advice and assistance, from myself.
Such patients, as a rule, have heard of my method from others; have
heard that it differs widely, in its frank simplicity, from the empty
pomposity of the old-school "orthodox" elements, though of the
principles of the old-school teaching they have really little or no
conception, beyond a crude, unwholesome, fear of the unknown,
consequent upon the, very necessary, veil of mystery with which its
votaries surround themselves—a semi-superstitious sentiment inherited
from a malignant past and one which does little credit to the vaunted
modern civilization of today.
On this point of difference they ask for enlightenment, and naturally
enquire as to the nature of both, but especially of this new hope which
is held out to them as a refuge in their hour of despair.
This information it is equally my duty and my desire to give, and in
the most convenient and simple form, shorn of all shroud of mystery;
for my object is to educate and not to conceal.
It is my chief desire that patients should thoroughly understand the
methods and principles of the New-School of Healing and should exercise
their own intelligence as to its merits as compared with the old, and,
being once thoroughly convinced—not by faith, or fear, or fashion, nor
yet biased by the unfair influence of the false prestige of a legalized
monopoly detrimental to the interest of the people—they should
forthwith honestly test the new deliverance by faithfully following my
advice and instruction, to their own unfailing ultimate benefit and
relief.
As a labour of love towards the world in general and the people of my
adopted country in particular, I have made it my duty to formulate the
substance of my researches in the field of science—researches which
represent the struggles of a lifetime—in a large and comprehensive work
which, to the scientist as well as to the laymen, will constitute in
the most detailed and complete degree a reliable guide to the
conservation of health which, even now, in the immediate present, has
come to be regarded not only as a scientific phase of education, but as
a duty incumbent upon every citizen. Should sickness supervene, as well
it may sometimes, despite all reasonable precaution, the knowledge and
instructions contained therein are sufficient, if closely followed, to
prevent, for the most part, the serious consequences of disease and to
afford the patient the necessary enlightenment to enable him to
co-operate with the hygienic-dietetic physician in the task of
restoring him to health and ability.
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