in his clinical work in their institution have
done much to encourage him and to
promote the interest of the profession
in the branch of
DERMATOLOGY
this little book is inscribed
PREFACE
Cancer has hitherto been regarded almost wholly from its histological and surgical aspects. The investigators and practitioners along these lines have been innumerable, the work done prodigious, and the literature relating thereto enormous. But relatively little attention has been paid to the medical aspects of this most threatening malady, although voices have been raised from time to time, with more or less force, all joining in the same plea that the basic cause of the disease lies in some derangement in the vital forces of the organism, as influenced largely by diet and mode of life.
It has, therefore, seemed to the writer that it was time to stop and look at cancer from a broader aspect, and by synthesis and deduction to seek to understand some of the underlying causes of malignant disease; also to see if some general principles could not be ascertained upon which could be based an explanation of the views he had long held, and of the practice which he had long followed in regard to the prevention and cure of this dire malady. And as his studies progressed he was more and more satisfied that the true solution of the cancer problem lay along the lines indicated, although there was still very much to be learned regarding the details and application of the principles involved.
The lectures were prepared for and delivered to practicing physicians at the New York Skin and Cancer Hospital, in connection with the regular Wednesday lectures on Diseases of the Skin, as I felt that I should give them the benefit of what I felt to be of value in my own practice, private and public.