The factor to be considered, then, is this.  What is it that induces boils in one person and not in another under identical circumstances?  The answer is obvious.  The boil is not a local disease at all, but is a manifestation of some constitutional defect, or of some impurity of the blood stream, which enables this microbe to find a congenial breeding ground.

The people who suffer most from boils are young or middle-aged adults, and we usually find the two extremes among sufferers.  There is the full-blooded, often overfed, individual and there is the pale, debilitated and emaciated person whose constitution is broken down by worry, overwork, sexual troubles, unhealthy surroundings or badly selected foods.

If we inquire into the constitutional history of these cases we shall almost invariably discover that the digestive or assimilative processes of the body are not working smoothly.  This may be due to the worry or overwork, or to unhealthy surroundings which dis-harmonise the digestive and nutritive functions, or to nervous exhaustion from one cause or another, or it may be due to the wrong diet, which is filling the colon (or large bowel) with fermenting poisons.

When the body is clogged in this manner nature often proceeds to get rid of the accumulating waste through the skin.  By a vigorous effort on the part of the life-force the impurity is thrown outwards to the surface.  Looked at in this light a boil is really a most salutary cleansing agent, and the Nature-Cure practitioner, who calls it a “Crisis,” often does everything in his power to produce boils when treating chronic diseases.

The alternative is often some more deeply seated form of elimination, resulting in serious organic disease of the organs or tissues.  One of the first signs of improvement in disorders like diabetes, consumption, arthritis, Bright’s disease, or even cancer, is the appearance of boils, showing that the vitality has improved to an extent sufficient to enable the foreign matter to be expelled by means of relatively harmless boils.  The hydropathic expert also tries to induce this condition by means of his mustard and water packs.

If our correspondent wants to rid herself of her boils she must adopt all means to improve her vitality and to cleanse her body of its impurities.  She can do this along many lines.  She can take a holiday and rest from her work; or by positive thinking she can set to work to get rid of her worries.  She can learn to laugh as often as possible, and to breathe deeply, slowly and fully.  If her house is unsanitary she should make it sanitary, or move elsewhere.

Then she must restrict her diet and take only those forms of food which create a minimum amount of poison in the system. She must cleanse the colon daily with warm water enemas, and encourage the action of the kidneys in doing their rightful