"I once heard it said that the world is simple; that health is simple; that it is the folly of man that causes all complications, and that it is the delicate task of the true physician to reduce everything to its original simplicity. Heaven knows that our great Master, Boerhaave, has solved life's problem. To me this truth is well worth the 7,000 Gulden I pay to secure it; while to you, my friends, who have travelled from distant parts of the globe in search of it, receive from me the legacy of our Master and also be, likewise, content."
The moral that this story teaches is the same eternal lesson of all time, as expressed through the medium of Biology: that not by art or artifice can health be cheaply snatched at will from the Infinite Sources of Life, but that by consistently following the guidance of Nature's Laws the healthy functions of the human organism may alone be correctly maintained, or, when driven by ill-treatment into decline, it is the rational scientific assistance we afford to the efforts of Nature, by which alone we may hope to re-establish that normal condition of health. For, in the worthy words of Wordsworth I may say: "So build we up the being that we are."
The writer does not claim for this method so great a degree of simplicity. But he does base it upon the same truth that simplicity and a return to natural conditions are the only ways of effectively healing the diseased body.
Guided by the great masters of biology and physiological chemistry, his object has been to determine the elements of which the twelve main tissues of the human body are composed and to learn in what manner these tissues suffer from the various diseases which attack them.
Were I desirous of emulating the illustrious Boerhaave, I might concentrate my work into these few words: Supply the system with the necessary constituents of its tissues and at the same time assist the organism by means of simple and natural appliances, and REGENERATION will continue until the desired physiological condition is reached.
In so doing, I fear, I should bequeath but little to the comprehension of humanity.
I desire that all shall benefit by the diligent research work of my life. I desire to leave my legacy to humankind clearly and distinctly defined, in rules carefully expressed in the Course of Study I have prepared.
I do not expect them to be accepted without controversy. Nor do I look for gratitude from those whom I seek to benefit. I have no delusions and the satisfaction of having delivered my message will be my sole reward. I can only trust in this more enlightened age, that history as poetized by Pope may not repeat itself:
"Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?
All fear, none aid you, and few understand."
My solace, even so, for the nonce would be the knowledge of life and health restored to the faithful, though, comparatively, few and the confidence that truth must, in the issue, at length prevail, convincing, victorious over all.