Internal and External Cleanliness
There is a distinction between internal cleanliness and external cleanliness. It is a mistaken idea that because the external is clean, the internal will be correspondingly clean. Cleanliness is absolutely essential to health, but by this we mean internal cleanliness. There must be external cleanliness also, but perfect external cleanliness will not necessarily result in perfect health.
Vital resistance of the body is not determined by the degree of external cleanliness nor by the perfect sanitary condition of the environment. However, it can never be said that Chiropractic does not believe in cleanliness. Chiropractic, of all the sciences, lays great stress on hygiene and sanitation. Our greatest teacher in all things is Nature and if there is any one thing that Chiropractic insists upon more than any other, it is that we live according to the laws of Nature and the closer we live to Nature, the more normal will be our functions. When we study the laws of Nature, we find the secret of sanitation. Everywhere in Nature we find laws in operation which result in the destruction of waste material and in the purification of the environment.
From the standpoint of common decency we are interested in sanitation or cleanliness, yet an immaculately clean environment will not result in perfect health or in the cure of dis-ease. The streets and alleys of the city may be kept clean and in a sanitary condition, yet the inside of the homes may be filled with filth. So the environment of man may be in a perfect condition so far as sanitation is concerned, yet the body may be filled with all kinds of poison and refuse.