improbable that all disease can be cured by a few simple, natural
methods of living and of treatment. If Nature Cure can accomplish
this, it establishes its right to be classed with the exact
sciences.

The Three Primary Causes of Disease

We shall now consider the three primary causes of disease one by
one.

Lowered Vitality

There is a well-defined limit to the running of a watch. When the
wound spring has spent its force, the mechanism stops.

So also the living forms of vegetable, animal and human life seem to
be wound by Nature to run a certain length of time, in accordance
with the laws governing their growth and development. Even the
healthiest of animals living in the most congenial surroundings in
the freedom of Nature do not much exceed their allotted span of
life, nor do they fall much below it. As a rule, the longer the
period between birth and maturity, the longer the life of the
animal.

All the different families of mammalia, when living in freedom, live
closely up to the life period allotted to them by Nature. Man is the
only exception. It is claimed that according to the laws of
longevity his average length of life should be considerably over one
hundred years, while according to life insurance statistics, the
average is at present [1913] thirty-seven years. This shows an