The final test of the correctness of any theory is the result of its application. Since Chiropractic secures a larger percentage of results than any other known system of healing it is safe to assume, at least, that it has discovered the way to remove the primary cause of disease.
That the Chiropractic theory, or more properly the subluxation theory, does not include all of the etiology of disease is evidenced by the facts of contagion and infection, by the effect upon the organism of the introduction of poison, by the consequences of worry, anger, and other abnormal mental states and conditions. These facts do not in the least invalidate the theory. They merely require explanation which will make clear their relation to the subluxation. That such explanation is abundantly at hand strengthens the position of Chiropractic more than would negation of all other causes save the one we concentrate upon.
The Mentalist who holds that all diseases exist in and are but figments of the mind is as far afield as the Physicist who holds that special nerve energy is nonexistent. The Chiropractor views Man as a complex psycho-physical unit, self-operating and internally self-healing until environmental forces disturb the nice adjustment of the machinery.
Disease is produced by, and is, a series of events, chief and most permanent of which is the subluxation. We may consider its etiology according to the order in which the events take place thus:
Direct Chain
Concussion of Forces.
Subluxation of Vertebra.
Impingement of Nerve.
Excitation or Inhibition.
Disease—Abnormal Function.