Speech

King George of England has a physician--a quiet man with a dry voice, a hard head and a sly wit--Sir Arbuthnot Lane of London, whose best friends speak of him as "Lane." Last week he gave a short talk to some 65 well known practitioners over their luncheon, demi-tasses in the stylish Union League Club, Manhattan. Now those who call Sir Arbuthnot "Lane" know that he is not the man to wad a speech with moss-bound medical verbiage, and they were therefore surprised to find in the newpaper synopsis of what he had said at that luncheon the frequent recurrence of such terms as "intestinal toxemia," "s t a s i s," "chronic stasis," "chronic intestinal stasis," "Gospel of prevention," "prolonged retention."

"In other words," said Sir Arbuthnot Lane, "constipation. I find it hard to get that word into the newspapers ... so that the public will know what I am talking about. I was asked recently to give a ten-minute talk on this subject over the radio. I did. The radio people wouldn't allow me to say constipation.

"This condition--the most menacing--is at the same time one of the most preventable. But the world has got to be educated in the means of prevention. It is responsible for ulcers and finally cancer. Civilization itself is menaced by it. Of the whole population of Great Britain, at least 5,000,000 will die of cancer unless they are educated about health.

"The fact is exactly this. The lower end of the intestine is of a size that requires emptying every six hours, but by habit we retain its contents 24 hours. The results, as I say, are ulcers and cancer. The products of intestinal toxemia are absorbed and we have filthy blood, and there are a host of resulting ailments. This poisoning causes enlargement of the pituitary gland, the thyroid gland, and, I think, the adrenals. The organs degenerate. . . .

"Any religion that does not have a hell is a failure. Just as soon as one brand drops its hell, its adherents leave it for another that possess one. Our hell--that is, the hell of the medical profession-- is cancer."