---

In science and especially biology, the laws of nature are not legislative enactments. Natural events do not take place in obedience to natural laws. Natural laws as we call them govern nothing. They are uniformities that have been observed – uniformities of nature, and they are classified according to universal formulae, mathematical formulae. For instance the Law of Gravitation does not govern the motion of falling bodies and the coursing of planets, meteors and satellites, it is a descriptive law which states in a conservative way, the observed action of things, the changes of quality that take place under certain conditions.

Famous Hygienist, Dr. Robert Walter, formulated what he regarded as the primary controlling law of life, which he discussed in his book, “Life’s Great Law”. Briefly it states:

“Every particle of living matter in the organised body is endowed with an instinct of self-preservation sustained by a force inherent in the organism usually called vital force or life force, the success of whose work is directly proportional to the amount of the force and inversely to the degree of its activity.”

I think this Law could be better presented if it were – every cell of the living organism is endowed with an instinct of self-preservation, a living matter and the particle reference to the organised body is superfluous. I think he was basing his Law on Newton’s formulation of the law of gravity. Looking at this law the living organism seeks to provide for its own interests, to appropriate food, seek light and air, water and warmth, protect it and avoid injury. This inherent tendency of self-preservation is essential to the existence of all living organisms.

Self-preservation is the primary controlling expression of life and normally it is subordinate to no other law except in rare instances to the instinct of the preservation of the race in which case an individual may sacrifice itself for the protection of the young or of the flock. It is important to appreciate that the vital power or the life force or whatever you want to call it is inherent, it is not manufactured by food, by air, by water, by exercise or any other substance or influence, it is not the product of activity, otherwise increased activity would be the best means of increasing the power and the inactivity of sleep and rest would be a waste of time.

Dr. Walters says, “inversely as the degree of its activity”. This is fraught with immense consequences with human health and life, it makes all the difference in the world whether we are increasing or reducing vital power by increasing vital activity, that we are doing the one no-one can doubt, there can be no neutral ground in medical practice. Vital activity expends power or increases it, if the latter rest and sleep are a waste of time, if the former then current medical practice is engaged in exhausting vital power.

Activity expends and exhausts while passivity recuperates and preserves. However, we know from our studies and observations that there is an important reciprocal relationship between rest and sleep on the one hand and exercise and activity on the other. As Dr. Walter pointed out it is the inactivity of sleep that recuperates power and the activity of labour that exhausts it.

Secondary to life’s great law there are other laws or uniformities that have been observed in relation to living organisms. First is the Law of Action that states, “Whenever action occurs in the living organism as a result of an extraneous influence that action must be ascribed to the living thing, which has the power of action, and not to the dead whose leading characteristic in inertia.” We might substitute instead of the word “dead” the word “lifeless”, there’s no life in it so it has no power of action.

Living is action. What Dr. Russell Trall the famous hygienist of the mid nineteenth century called the Law of Vitality. He expressed it as follows:

“In the relations between the living organism and lifeless matter the former is active, the latter passive, always.”

This has enormous consequences for medicine and biology. The living is active the lifeless is passive and yet we repeatedly hear the assertion that drugs act. Action presupposes an actor. Thinking about Trall’s statement, “the living organism is active, the lifeless matter is passive”, in relation to the action of drugs, if it is purely chemical action, that’s fine, but we are not talking about chemical action when the action is biological, the organism uses chemistry sure but it is not only chemistry. Action requires an actor something that is alive and if one wishes to argue the point that the lifeless can act from where does it derive its energy. It derives its energy from the living organism, so it is the organism that acts. Certainly we concede that the lifeless matter may be the occasion for the action but it does not perform it.

The Law of Power states:

“The power employed and consequently expended in any vital or medicinal action is vital power, that is, power from within and not from without.”
This is merely a re-statement of the fact that it is the living thing that acts and it is vital force that is consumed.

The Law of Selective Elimination

“All injurious substances which by any means gain admittance within the domain of vitality are counter-acted, neutralised and eliminated in such a manner and through such channels as will produce the least amount of damage to the organism.”

This law suggests an answer to the question of why certain drugs seem to act on certain organs and tissues. For instance why does one drug “act” on the bowels, why does one drug “act” on the liver, why does one drug “act” on the kidneys? As Trall himself pointed out, emetics do not act on the stomach but are rejected by the stomach, purgatives do not act on the bowels but are expelled through the bowels, and diaphoretics instead on acting on the skin are sent off in that direction, diuretics do not act on the kidneys but the poisonous drugs are eliminated through that channel.

The Law of Dual Effect

In hygienic literature there are a number of definitions of this. The original one of Walters I quote:

“The secondary effect upon the living organism of any act, habit, indulgence or agent is the exact opposite and equal of the primary effect.”

A better re-formulation is: “All materials which are taken into the body or which come into contact with it from without occasion a two-fold and contrary action, the secondary reaction being the opposite of the primary one.”

Work and exercise arouse vital activity thus giving the appearance of increased vigour as the first effect, the secondary effect tiredness, decreased vigour, fatigue, and exhaustion. Rest and sleep on the contrary produced, as their first effect, weakness and languor but no one doubts their recuperative value, rest and sleep are the only means whereby recuperation and re-invigoration make be secured. These are secondary effects. Interestingly, in the living organism power is felt or experienced only in its expenditure never when it is passive. One therefore feels stronger while one is growing weaker, and feels weaker while one is actually growing stronger through recuperation of the power.

The Law of Special Economy

“The vital organism under favourable conditions stores up all excess of vital funds above the current expenditure as a reserve fund to be employed at a time of special need.”

The healthy organism has power in reserve the body always seeks to maintain a certain reserve of power to meet emergencies. We see this is wide spread in nature where certain animals will gain a lot of weight in times of plenty which enables them to subsist adequately in times of scarcity and in human beings too, we always consider that the person who is emaciated and weak has little reserve of energy and power to meet emergencies.

The Law of Vital Distribution

“In proportion to the importance and the need of the various organs and tissues of the body is the power of the body whether much or little apportioned out among them.”

The aggregate power of the organism may be regarded as a reservoir of force capable of being called in any direction or to any point. So also, the aggregate nutriment resources of the body may be regarded as a reservoir of food capable to being called in any direction or to any point as need arises. In the distribution of power and nutriments no part is permitted to suffer want so long as these are adequate but where there is a scarcity of either power or nutriment these are distributed in a manner to ensure the preservation of the more vital structure first and then the remaining supplies are distributed among the less vital structures. We will consider this much more in the discussion of fasting.

In emergencies, as in so-called disease, the withdrawal of power from some organs or groups of organs and its concentration in other organs or groups of organs is carried out with the strict regard to the highest welfare of the organism. A person experiencing what is referred to as a “heart attack” or other critical condition may observe that they are unable to do anything other than observe, as though the organism “shuts down” many aspects of its functions, all the patient can do is maintain an awareness.

Every organ of the body has its particular specific function to perform and with an adequate supply of power will do its work promptly and well but with an inadequate supply of power it falters in its functions fails to accomplish its work in a thorough workmanlike manner, it always does the best it can with the power at its disposal.

The Law of Limitation

“Whenever and wherever the expenditure of vital power has advanced so far that a fatal exhaustion is imminent, a check is put upon the unnecessary expenditure of power and the organism rebels against the further use of even an accustomed stimulant.”

It happens that a physician employs a certain stimulant in the treatment of a very depleted patient. It seems to work like a charm, the patient responds readily, but it becomes necessary to give the stimulant in increasingly larger doses and finally the body ceases to respond at all. It seems to rebel against its use. In the days when brandy was a medical standby, after it had been given in some low states of disease it would eventually lose its so-called power of action.

The Law of Vital Accommodation

“The responses of the vital organism to external stimuli is an instinctive one based upon a self preservative instinct which adapts itself to whatever influence it cannot destroy or control. This explains the principle of toleration. Adaptation is essential in biology, it is life saving, it is species saving; it is an essential element of life. A simple example of adaptation is exposure to sunlight and the tanning that occurs. This may be good it may be bad. Let’s examine it.