DISEASES of the male and female sex organs can roughly be divided into two groups : those of venereal origin (to which group the great majority of diseases of the male sex organs belong) ; and those peculiar to women, and known generally as " women's ailments." We shall therefore deal with venereal disease first, and then with the diseases peculiar to women.

If the public once knew that a disease such as syphilis is quite amenable to successful treatment and complete cure (as it is if treated along Natural-Cure lines), leaving no ill after-effects whatsoever to mar the future life and happiness of its victim, then the writer is quite sure that most of the before-mentioned horror and loathing surrounding the disease would tend to disappear.

There is no denying the fact that if such a dread disease as syphilis lost its terror for mankind in general it might lead to an intensification of promiscuous sexuality ; but that is not a point for those engaged in the natural healing art to discuss. Sufficient for them if they know quite definitely that syphilis can be cured, and completely so, by natural methods of treatment, and to make that fact known as far as they possibly can.

We have enough people doomed to a life of utter misery and hopelessness through having contracted venereal disease which medical methods have failed to cure many quite innocent sufferers (especially wives !) ; and quite apart from all so-called moral and ethical factors these persons should know that their miseries are in reality quite unnecessary, and the result of mistaken methods of cure on the part of those who have been appointed by society to deal with their condition. If promiscuous sexuality should flourish amongst those who have no self-control or real feeling about sex if the terrors surrounding venereal disease are removed, that is their fault entirely and not the fault of those who would like to rid the world once and for all of a loathsome scourge which is always eating deeper and deeper into the vitals of society.

And then think of the innocent children whose bodies have been malformed and misshapen through being so unfortunate as to be born of parents one or both of whom has had venereal disease which orthodox methods of treatment have not cured. Surely for their sake alone the disease (or rather its mind- and body-destroying after-effects) should be erased once and for all from the book of life, if such can be done. And it CAN BE DONE if right methods of treatment are adopted in every case, and not ruinous and suppressive medical methods.

When the famous " 606 " treatment for syphilis was introduced, it was thought that here was a sure " cure " for syphilis. But the cure merely consisted in the injection into the body of the victim of doses of metallic drugs of very high potency, which, by suppressing the superficial effects of the disease, were deemed to have effected a " cure " thereby. But the medical profession to-day is not so sure even of this superficial efficacy of " 606," or the newer preparations of arsenic and other metals founded on it. (The dreaded after-effects still tend to appear !)

All that the medical profession is intent on in its treatment of syphilis is that the various superficial manifestations connected with the disease should disappear, and that the blood should show a negative reaction when tested by the Wassermann test. But that does not mean that the sufferer has been cured�really cured,; it simply means that the active manifestation of the disease in the victim's system has been stopped for the time being, through the suppressive action of the drugs employed. The disease-poisons plus the metallic drugs employed are still left in the patient's system to work stealthily upon his tissues and structures as the years go on, and that is why under such treatment the dreaded after-effects connected with syphilis appear.

It can be said quite definitely that if syphilis is not treated by suppressive drugs in its initial stages, and suppressed, then there would be no fear at all of the often dreadful after-effects which arise in cases so treated; after-effects such as paralysis, insanity, etc. The drugs used in such medical treatment, mercury, arsenic, etc. have a most destructive effect upon the tissues and structures of the body, especially upon the nervous tissues; and to their presence in such large quantities in the system of the victim, through the agency of the treatment employed, is most of the serious (and often fatal) nervous and mental trouble due, of which the sufferer from venereal disease goes in such fear in after-life.

The foregoing is a very serious indictment indeed, and one which cannot be made without absolute assurance as to its truth. The fact is that, in common with its inability to understand how disease in general should be treated, the medical profession has carried its suppressive views into the treatment of venereal disease too, and, owing to the strength and quantity of the deleterious drugs employed, the after-effects are so very much more serious than with other diseases treated along similar suppressive lines. That the damage is laid at the door of the disease, and not at all upon the treatment, is due not to any desire to escape from the blame attaching to its own actions on the part of the medical profession, but to a quite genuine and sincere belief on its part that it is so. It is firmly convinced that its treatment is the best possible in the circumstances, and that it is doing all possible for the future health and welfare of the patient. It is just a matter of ignorance pure and simple ignorance on the part of the doctor, and ignorance on the part of the patient. That such ignorance brings misery and suffering in its train is unfortunate, but it is all part of the price man has to pay for not understanding the laws of his own body and the manner in which ill-health should be overcome.

The faith that is put in the Wassermann test by the medical profession is in itself very childish indeed, for nothing is certain about the test, and people with diseases other than syphilis can show a positive Wassermann reaction when tested. The only sure and safe way of treating venereal disease, and the way practised by the ancients, is FASTING. Perhaps it will sound incredible to some, but through the agency of the fast any case of syphilis or gonorrhea can be completely cured, and not only will any possibility of dreaded after-effects be prevented by such treatment, but the whole general health-level of the patient will be greatly enhanced because of the thorough internal cleansing his system will have received as a result of the treatment. The truth of this has been proved over and over again in natural treatment, and surely the world should know of it. But, strange to say, no practitioner of Natural Cure in this country is allowed (by law) to treat diseases of venereal origin. Only authorised members of the medical profession can do so.

Thus arises a situation by which those who can cure such diseases are prevented from doing so by the law of the land, whilst those who cannot really cure such diseases, and who often cause irreparable harm to the bodies of their patients through their treatment, are the only ones allowed by the State to do so ! Strange indeed are the anomalies of life !

In many States of the United States Naturopaths are quite free to treat venereal disease, and many books by leading American Naturopaths have been written on the subject; but the fact remains that in England we are not allowed to do so. The subject will be dealt with only in the broadest and most general way, therefore, in the present section, as explicit instructions regarding treatment are not permissible under existing conditions. What is said, however, will, it is hoped, prove of the greatest possible value to many unfortunate sufferers from venereal disease who have never before heard of Nature-Cure treatment in relation to their affliction.

Diseases connected with the female sex organs are growing steadily year by year, despite all the efforts made by the medical profession to deal with them, and until something of their real origin is understood by women in general, there is no doubt that such diseases will continue to grow more and more rapidly as the years advance. The first thing to realise with regard to the origin of " women's ailments " is that the female sex organs are delicate structures, and so situated that they are easily interfered with by the structures above and around them ; and the second thing to realise is that through the menstrual flow Nature has found a means of getting rid of a great deal of toxic matter from the female system which is denied to the opposite sex. When women begin to relate womb and ovary troubles to the general health of the body, and to the way in which they carry themselves and live, then they will have taken the first step in an understanding of how womb troubles arise, and in what direction their intelligent treatment lies.

The medical profession, in its usual short-sighted way, sees no connection, as a general rule, between the feeding habits and ways of living of its women patients and the disorders of the sex organs they suffer from. Yet the connection is most patent, once a little thought is brought to bear upon the subject. For instance, the uterus (womb) is situated in such a position that if the intestines are continually distended with gas or an over-accumulation of food materials, there is constant downward pressure upon the womb and its surrounding tissues, and this is further accentuated if constipation is habitual, because of the pressure from behind exerted by an overfilled colon. Thus we can at once see that displacement of the womb and other womb troubles (through the resultant pressure, cramping, and congestion that

Then, again, all tight-fitting garments, especially corsets, tend to restrict the free play of the internal organs, and automatically throw extra downward pressure upon the womb and its surrounding structures, thus accentuating the pressure, cramping, and congestion referred to just previously ; whilst continual standing or sitting in a stooped position has an exactly similar effect. Slackness of the internal muscles of the abdomen, through lack of exercise, bodily weakness, etc., by not holding the womb and adjacent structures firmly in position, tends greatly to facilitate the harmful effects of the other factors enumerated. It will thus be seen that the way a woman carries herself, the condition of her body, the kind of garments she wears, and especially the condition of her abdominal organs in relationship to her feeding habits, are all factors of prime importance in studying the causes of womb troubles, factors which, with a little common sense and a knowledge of physiology, will be readily admitted by everyone who looks at disease as not so much a local affair as the logical result of various causes affecting the health and condition of the organism as a whole.

But beside these more or less obvious factors there are others more deep-seated concerned in the development of womb troubles which only an understanding of the way in which the body works during disease can make clear to one. In the Natural-Cure philosophy it is realised that all disease is a move on the part of the body towards self-cleansing (as previously explained in the theoretical portion of the present book) ; and it is also realised that Nature tends to take advantage of any lowering in the vitality of the individual or any chance happening (such as accident or injury) to find an avenue for the removal of toxic matter from the system. (The festering of a cut is a good example of this.) Thus we can readily understand how the menstrual flow is utilised by Nature as a safety-valve in its efforts to preserve the health of the female organism.

When menstruation begins at puberty in connection with the female function of ovulation (or the passing of the female ovum from the ovary to the womb ready for impregnation), a free avenue for the removal of toxic waste material and systemic impurities is thus opened up in the female system ; and Nature tends to take more and more advantage of this extra eliminative outlet in the bodies of those women who are in a low state of health and whose blood and tissues are surcharged with toxic matter. This fact, taken in relation with the other things previously named, is sufficient to explain the whole mystery of painful and excessive menstruation and, indeed, menstrual troubles in general. When a woman is subject to these troubles, then it can be taken as certain that her general health-level is well below par, that her sex organism is in a toxic condition, and that, however painful the process may be, the menstrual flow is being utilised by Nature for the purpose of systemic purification, so far as lies within its power.

Of course, if the wrong habits of living, especially wrong feeding habits�which have set up the systemic toxicity in the first place are continued with, as they invariably are, then the menstrual outlet utilised by the natural forces of the body can never succeed in correcting matters ; and so the trouble goes on and on indefinitely, and is only made more deep-seated and chronic by medical efforts to deal with it through the suppressive agency of surgery, drugs, and the like. The trouble is systemic in origin, and can only be tackled at its source ; to deal with it as a purely local matter, as the medical profession does, is just useless. (It may be mentioned here in passing that the habitual taking of so-called " remedies ", medical, patent, and otherwise, for the alleviation of menstrual ailments always tends to complicate matters, and often leads directly to the development of growths in the womb and other serious trouble.)

It is generally considered that scanty menstruation or premature cessation of the menstrual flow is a sign of general ill-health in women ; but this is not necessarily so. There is a view put forward by Dr. Shelton, the eminent American Naturopath, that the less a woman menstruates the better her health is, and that the cessation of the flow altogether in the fairly young is a very good thing indeed, rather than something to be deplored, as is generally the case. He bases this rather unorthodox view upon the conclusion, arrived at by himself, that all menstruation is a form of vicarious elimination (an attempt on the part of Nature to remove a tendency to chronic blood congestion in the female sex organs, owing to faulty carriage and faulty living on the part of civilised woman) ; and so he concludes that the less a woman menstruates the less her body is in need of this monthly cleansing process.

The writer of the present book, although leaning somewhat towards this view, cannot think that the whole menstrual process is purely of the nature ascribed to it by Dr. Shelton (although there is much vicarious elimination connected with it, as he has himself already pointed out) ; but he certainly does think that scanty menstruation or the premature cessation of menstruation is nothing at all to worry about in any woman who is otherwise healthy. If her general health-level is poor, however, and she is subject to other disease-manifestations, then the scantiness of the flow or its premature complete cessation undoubtedly shows that the sexual organism is not functioning as it should.

We have stated that the various factors concerned in the development of the commoner forms of women's ailments are all systemic in character ; this applies equally to those of a more serious nature, such as growths, etc. A system full of toxic matter means a blood stream always in a highly toxic condition, and when there is a state of chronic congestion and cramping of the womb and its surrounding structures�for the reasons already pointed out�there is every likelihood of growths forming in the womb, because of the difficulty of getting rid of congested blood and morbid deposits. Especially is this so where there has been much previous drug treatment, curetting, etc. There is no doubt also that the stoppage of the menstrual flow at the " change of life " tends towards the formation of growths in the womb, especially cancer, for the following reasons.

We have said that Nature makes use of menstruation for the purpose of getting rid of a great deal of waste matter and systemic refuse from the female organism ; when menstruation ceases, this process of extra elimination has perforce to cease too. That means that many women who can well do with it will now be debarred from this additional outlet for the toxic matter which their system is steadily piling up, and so more and more of this morbid material will collect in the womb, with the result that growths, both cancerous and non-cancerous, will tend increasingly to appear. (All this applies to the breast too, for the breast and womb are intimately connected in the; female.)

Of course, in dealing with the causes of women's ailments, one must not overlook the part played by uncleanly habits, by unskillful handling of childbirth, and by excessive child-bearing in the setting up of these troubles; and also one must not overlook the growing part played in the development of such ailments by willful abortion, excessive sexuality, sex perversion, and modern methods of contraception. There can be no doubt that the introduction of " birth control" amongst civilised races is doing much to accentuate the liability of modern woman towards the development of ailments of the sex organs.

Having given this brief survey of the causes and factors relating to the setting up of women's complaints, it is worth while just briefly turning our attention to the methods employed by the medical profession to deal with them. We have already said that the medical mind always seems to regard each organ or part of the body as something more or less separate from each other part, and this same shortsighted view is held to a remarkable degree with regard to ailments of the nature we are here discussing. The practitioners of orthodox medicine cannot seem to relate these diseases with factors concerning the health and condition of the female system as a whole, and so treatment for women's ailments is entirely local in character, and, as usual with all medical usage, highly suppressive in action. It can safely be said that very few women indeed have derived any real lasting benefit for womb or ovary trouble at medical hands.

Apart from the free use of drugs for the alleviation and masking of symptoms, surgery seems to be the most-used medium of procedure in treating these cases ; and many a woman has had her whole life ruined, both physically and mentally, through allowing herself to be operated on without having any idea as to what was to be done to her and how it would affect her after-life. Of course these women feel that the doctor knows all there is to know about the matter, and that whatever he advises is bound to be for the best; and so they give their consent to the removal of womb and ovaries without realising in the slightest what that means. Neither does the medical profession seek to enlighten them.

This is not to say that the doctor or surgeon willfully attempts through the medium of the treatment employed to pull down instead of build up the future health of his patient; he can see no other way of dealing with these troubles than through the removal of the whole or part of the female sex apparatus. And if such removal is going to affect very severely the whole nervous and mental life of the patient afterwards, he considers that that is not his fault or his business either. He is doing the best he knows according to his lights to get rid of the patient's present trouble, and sincerely hopes that her future health will be improved thereby; but if it is not, then he cannot see that he is to blame in the matter. He has done his best, and that is all.

It must be remembered that the sex organs are the most vital part of the human being, both male and female ; and any tampering with such organs, and especially their removal, is bound to have the profoundest repercussion upon the nervous and mental health of the individual. For once these life-centres are removed, then a great part of the individual's life-flow departs too. (He or she is now no longer a complete human being in every sense of the word.) Again, the whole nervous apparatus in the neighbourhood of the sex organs, which is very delicate and fine in structure, is very much cut about at these operations, and so normal nervous functioning is further interfered with from this source too. The woman who undergoes an operation for womb removal is told that it is the only thing that can be done in the circumstances, and that although she will no doubt be very depressed for a few months after the operation, she will feel ever so much better thereafter.

But how the patient's health is going to be restored to her through having her whole sex-life shattered is hard to see, even from the most optimistic reasoning; and results more than bear out the truth, here stated, that such operations do an infinite amount of harm to the future life and health of women so treated.

There was a time when ovaries were completely removed, but that is no longer done to-day, because it was found that women so treated went insane eventually.

Now a small part of the ovary is left in to prevent this terrible occurrence. Surely this shows how close is the relationship between these delicate sex organs and the life, both mental and physical, of the individual, and how dangerous it is to meddle with them through the medium of present-day surgery.

The only logical treatment for women's ailments, as the intelligent reader can now see, is treatment aimed at restoring the health and functional powers of the WHOLE ORGANISM. That is the ONLY way to get rid of these troubles in any real sense. Through the medium of natural treatment, scientifically applied, many thousands of women are possessors of sound health to-day who were told by their medical advisers that they could never possibly get well again unless they consented to operations for the removal of all or part of their sexual organism. These women have been completely cured by natural treatment, and the whole sexual organism retained intact !

In the present section the home treatment for women's ailments is given in full detail, and by their aid many a woman who has tried in vain to be cured of her complaint at the hands of orthodox medication can restore herself to eventual sound health and fitness (providing her condition has not been allowed to develop too far, or been interfered with to any serious extent by previous medical treatment). Really long-standing and serious cases would best be treated at a Natural-Cure home, or under the personal care of a competent Naturopath, because of auxiliary treatment (in the form of manipulation, ray-therapy, etc.) which will be needed in such cases, not to speak of prolonged fasting and strict dietetic treatment.