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   While color of the iris is indicative of hereditary traits and of the degree of purity or impurity of blood and tissues, density is a measure of that which we call vitality, tone, power of resistance, recuperative power, etc.

   Before proceeding with the study of this subject let me explain what is meant by density. When the structures composing the stroma and surface layer of the iris are normally developed and arranged in an orderly manner so that they lie in smooth, even layers, like the fibres in a perfectly woven fabric, and when the layer of endothelial cells covering the surface of the stroma is intact, then the iris is of normal density and presents a surface of crystalline clearness with the beautiful, glossy appearance of topaz or mother-of-pearl.

   While such an iris is the rule among animals living in freedom, it is nowadays very rarely found in human beings.* It is sometimes seen in cats' eyes, but never in dogs', probably because the cat stubbornly adheres to its natural modes of living, while the dog readily adapts himself to the unnatural habits of living of his master and is, therefore, more prone to disease than any other animal excepting man and the hog. Burton Hendricks, the cancer expert, claims that the lap dogs of Fifth Avenue are afflicted with cancer as frequently as are their luxury loving owners.

   *"The surface endothelhim is very perishable, being demonstrable only in fresh specimens obtained from young individuals, and usually with much greater difficulty in the human than in the animal iris." (From a standard work on anatomy.)

   In an iris of defective density the nerve and muscle fibres in the surface layer and stroma are unevenly developed and arranged--some swollen, others shrunken or entirely obliterated, all crooked, warped and intermingled. In some areas the fibres are massed into bundles; in others, entirely displaced so that the darker underlying layers become revealed, giving the appearance of dark shadings and black spots.

   In some instances the displacement is so deep that actual holes are formed exposing the dark pigment layer. This is often the case after serious wounds and fractures entailing great loss of tissues. Such a hole in the iris was the dark spot in the owl's eye which led the boy Peckzely to the discovery of this wonderful science of Iridology.

   An iris of defective density presents in color, as well as in grain and texture, an uneven, mottled appearance. As every sign, mark or discoloration in the iris stands for some abnormal condition in the body, it is clear why defective density indicates lowered vitality and weakened resistance.

   We judge the firmness and textile strength of a piece of wood, metal or woven fabric by the fineness and smoothness of grain and fibre. Correspondingly, we recognize in coarseness, looseness and irregular arrangement of fibre the unmistakable marks of inferiority and lack of textile strength and stamina.

   Oak and mahogany have a finer grain than poplar or willow; steel is finer and denser in texture than iron.

   Similarly, a fine, dense iris indicates density and firmness of tissues in the body, and vice versa. In other words, the degree of density of the iris corresponds to the degree of vitality and to the general tone of the system. Since density refers only to the woof of the iris, the scurf rim, medicine signs, lymphatic rosary and itch spots are not taken into consideration in determining the degree of density.

   Since abnormal color pigments in the iris represent encumbrances of morbid and foreign matter in the system, and since density denotes the degree of integrity and tone of the tissues, color and density combined indicate the degree of--

   (a) Stamina and endurance;

   (b) Vital resistance to disease;

   (c) Recuperative power and response to treatment;

   (d) Expectancy of life.

   We judge the quality of the constitution of an individual according to the absence or presence in the iris of the various hereditary and acquired taints, encumbrances and defects.

   The life expectancy of an individual can be estimated by the quality of his constitution as revealed in the iris. Frequently, however, individuals with frail constitutions carefully nurse their health and outlive those with vigorous constitutions who recklessly squander their vitality. According to the showing in the iris of color, density and hereditary lesions, we distinguish four types of constitutions. The ideal, as before stated, we do not find in human beings. We therefore have not given it a place in the drawing (Fig. 6) which illustrates the four degrees of density.

   Section 1. Good. We notice only a few straight, whitish lines. This iris is sometimes found in infants and young children, and in sailors and mountaineers.

   Section 2. Common. The white lines are increased and more tangled. There are a few hereditary lesions and some dark lines indicating subacute, catarrhal conditions; also some nerve rings. Individuals exhibiting this degree of density may enjoy good health in the usual sense of the term.

   Section 3. Poor. In this section white lines are more prominent and tangled. It contains several nerve rings. Signs of subacute and chronic conditions are more numerous. There are several closed defects. Individuals of this type are usually trying one "cure" after another.

   Section 4. Very Poor. In this section signs of chronic and destructive chronic conditions predominate. The nerve rings are partially dark. Closed lesions as in Section 3. Prognosis not promising.

   The iris indicates abnormal heredity not only in a general way by darkened color and by defective density, but also in a more definite way by portrayal of hereditary organic defects in the iris of the infant, as reproduced in Fig. 6, Sec. 2, p. 42. In this iris we notice in addition to the whitish lines of acute eliminative activity and nerve rings, signs of organic lesions in the form of ovoid or spindle form shadings. In this manner we have frequently seen weak organs and parts in parents indicated in the iris of the offspring.

   My oldest son, born when I myself was in a very poor state of health, exhibited by these greyish signs or hereditary lesions almost every weak part in my own body. Thus the diagnosis from the iris of the eye assists in solving definitely one of the mooted questions of science--that of heredity. Orthodox science is decidedly uncertain and contradictory on the subject of heredity. All shades and grades of opinion prevail. Some authorities claim that there is nothing in heredity; others that weakened resistance only is hereditary; and still others maintain that organic weakness and defects of certain parts and organs may be transmitted to the offspring. That the latter are in the right is conclusively demonstrated by iridiagnosis.

   Under natural management of Nature's acute eliminative efforts, such as skin eruptions, diarrheas, fevers, catarrhal conditions, etc., the signs of hereditary and congenital organic defects gradually disappear from the iris of the infant. Under adverse management, however, they deepen and darken into chronic signs.

   The totality of these various hereditary, congenital, acute, chronic and destructive defects in the iris thus determine the degree of density and serve as a measure of the vitality and recuperative powers of the organism; for it stands to reason that the more seriously vital parts and organs are affected, the lower must be the recuperative power of the entire organism.

   It now becomes clear what we meant by our words of solace to the dark eyed folk in the previous chapter. We see now that color alone does not determine the state of health, vitality or expectancy of life. Brown eyes by virtue of racial descent are normal and not indicative of disease.

   A person dark eyed as a result of physical abnormality but with an iris of good or common density may enjoy much better health and have a much better expectancy of life than a blue eyed person with a density of the fourth grade, indicating serious catarrhal and destructive defects in vital parts and organs.

   The question may be asked, "Is not this contradictory? You state that the color of the iris darkens with deterioration in health, and consequently people with defective iris density should always have dark colored eyes."

   I would answer to this that under certain influences destruction of vital parts may proceed much faster than the darkening of the color, but the latter always to some extent accompanies the former.

   Is it not a matter of common occurrence to see blue eyed athletes and prize-fighters endowed with magnificent physique and exuberant vitality fall victims to destructive wasting diseases in a few years' time under the influence of riotous living and destructive habits?

   Color, density and hereditary defects together are, therefore, the indicators of hereditary, congenital and acquired tendencies toward health or disease.

   From the very commencement of individual life, Nature endeavors to purify the infant body of its hereditary disease taints and morbid encumbrances, through acute elim-inative processes such as skin eruptions, purgings, acute catarrhal elimination in the form of coughs and mucous discharges from the nasal passages and other cavities of the body, and through various acute febrile diseases of childhood, such as measles, chickenpox, scarlet fever, etc.

   The universality of these acute diseases of infancy indicates their hereditary origin. If these eliminative efforts of Nature are not suppressed but are encouraged through natural management and treatment, then the little body will purify itself in course of time from hereditary and acquired encumbrances. The length of time required to accomplish this depends upon the nature of the morbid encumbrances and upon the degree of vitality and power of reaction. It may continue from a few months to a few years, or in serious cases the final purifying and healing crises may not develop until the sixth--the first crisis year in the life of the child.

   These eliminative processes show in the iris of the newborn infant and growing child in the form of a white star which proceeds from the pupil outward in all directions, especially in those organs where elimination is most active, as, for instance, in the digestive tract and respiratory organs. (Fig. 10, p. 95, John's case.)

   The outer parts of the iris, outside of the white star, are usually of a dark violet, blackish blue or dark brown color, from which stands forth the white star around the pupil, which signifies acute forms of elimination, such as purging, skin eruptions, catarrhal discharges, febrile diseases, etc.

   As the system becomes purified and more normal the iris will approach more and more to the normal light blue or light brown color, according to the racial descent of the individual. If, on the other hand, Nature's acute eliminative efforts are checked or suppressed by wrong or, as we call it, unnatural treatment, then the iris assumes a still darker hue and condenses in the outer circumference, where the blue or brown borders on the white cornea, in a dark ring or wreath. This was called by the first Iridologists "the scurf rim", because it makes its appearance after the suppression of "milk scurf" and other forms of cutaneous elimination. The formation of the scurf rim marks the beginning of the third or chronic stage of encumbrance and will be described under that heading.

   As before stated, all acute inflammatory and febrile conditions of the body are portrayed in the iris by white lines, streaks and clouds. When the entire organism is in a feverish condition, the eyes present the whitish, glistening appearance commonly noticed in high fevers and in states of great mental or nervous strain. Such states of physical and mental excitement accelerate the circulation and produce in the affected parts congestion, swelling and pain.

   Every acute inflammatory or febrile process is the result of a cleansing and healing effort of Nature. The white clouds in the eyes indicate where Nature's healing forces, the "Vis Medicatrix Naturae", are at work.

   When acute inflammation runs its natural course through the five stages, then perfect absorption and reconstruction take place in the affected organ and the resulting condition is better than before the house cleaning. As the inflamed part or organ returns to normal, the white signs of inflammation disappear. (Fig. 14, p. 112, Series I, e.)

   The white signs of acute inflammatory conditions are produced anatomically in the following manner:

   Congestion in any organ or part of the body reflexly gives rise to similar vaso motor changes in the corresponding organ area in the iris. The congestion in the stroma of the affected area presses the top layers of the iris above the level of the surface. The nerve and muscle fibres thus protruding above the surface (being colorless) appear as white, wavy lines which when grouped closely together resemble white streaks or clouds. When the congestion and swelling in the middle layers of the iris subside the nerve and muscle fibres of the top layer fall back into their normal positions, and then the surface of the iris resumes its normal blue or brown appearance.

   When, through injury or surgical treatment, muscular or other tissues have been torn, cut or broken crosswise, the corresponding lesions in the iris run diagonally or crosswise to the surface filaments of the iris, while lesions caused by internal inflammatory processes run parallel with the fibres of the iris. Lesions caused by various injuries are portrayed in Fig. 18 R, area 17, p. 216, and fig. 28 L, area 18, p. 232.

   Suppose Nature's healing and cleansing efforts are checked or suppressed by various means, such as exposure to wet and cold, lowered vitality, nerve exhaustion, or by ice packs, drugs or surgical treatment, then the acute eliminative process enters upon the stages of subacute and chronic destruction of cells and tissues.

   Let us take for example a case of acute catarrh of the bronchi and lungs which, under suppressive treatment, gradually enters upon the subacute and then upon the chronic stages of disease. All drugs which are usually the working principle in cough and catarrh remedies, lower the fever and cure (?) the catarrh, because they are astringents, opiates and protoplasmic poisons; because they contract and throttle the secreting cells, benumb and kill the red corpuscles, paralyze the respiratory centers and heart action--in short, because they suppress Nature's acute healing efforts by lowering the vitality and paralyzing the vital functions. The pathological changes from the acute to the subacute stages are accompanied by atrophy and sloughing of cells and tissues, and these are portrayed in the iris by atrophy of structures in the corresponding organ areas. This produces the grey and dark shades of "subacute lesions".

   When by suppressive treatment, above described, the secreting cells of the bronchi are hindered in their labors, the elimination of mucous and pus is suppressed and the debris resulting from Nature's purifying processes is retained in the cells and tissues of the lungs, drug poisons are added to the disease poisons and these morbid accumulations become a source of continuous irritation. While the previous (acute) violent coughing and expectoration has subsided, there is now a low, hacking cough; mucus accumulates in the bronchi during the night and is evacuated in the morning with great effort. Retention of morbid matter and lowered vitality gradually cause decay and destruction of lung tissue. These degenerative processes repeat themselves in slightly modified degrees in all chronic destructive diseases affecting other parts and organs.

   Simultaneously with this destruction of tissue in the lungs, similar changes take place in the corresponding areas of the iris. In these fields of the iris the tissues lose their vitality, dry, shrivel and turn dark. As a result of this the white clouds of acute inflammatory lesions become intermingled with dark shades and streaks, as represented in Fig. 14, Series III. When examined with a strong magnifying glass it will be noticed that these dark areas are more or less depressed. In the advanced stages of destruction they deepen into holes, sometimes down to the black pigment layer.

   If, under the adverse circumstances above described, Nature still succeeds, in an imperfect way, in healing the defects of the lungs or any other part of the body by the formation of scar tissue, the dark signs in the iris become circumscribed by and interwoven with white lines. The more perfect the healing, the more white lines are interwoven with the dark and the more solid the white enclosures.

   These closed lesions correspond to the scar tissue in the body. At best they indicate weak spots in the system, which under certain provocations may at any time again open and become acute, subacute or chronic lesions.

   The last destructive stages of disease are marked by increasing atrophy and destruction of cells and tissues. When these degenerative changes take place in vital organs the chances of recovery become more and more precarious. In the iris the dark shadings of the subacute and chronic stages become more intensified and change into black shades or spots. Caverns in the lungs, for instance, appear frequently as small black dots in the lung areas of the iris (Fig. 27, area 9, left).

   Series I represents the signs of acute inflammatory processes in various stages and degrees of intensity. Acute disease in the stages of greatest intensity--aggravation and destruction--shows in the corresponding organ areas as represented in Figures a, d and f. As the inflammatory process declines under natural treatment, during the stages of absorption and reconstruction, the protruding fibres which cause the white signs fall back into their normal positions (page 49) and the white lines or clouds gradually disappear, as presented in Figures g, e and b.

   Figure c is a closed lesion in process of formation. We observe such lesions after pneumonia, pleurisy, nephritis or any other acute disease has been suppressed by ice or drugs. They stand for scar tissue. Under adverse conditions they may become acute again in a destructive way. Under natural living and treatment they may become acute (in healing crises) in a constructive way. Closed lesions of long standing and of a chronic nature show as represented in Series II Fig. g, and Series III Figs, c and f.

   The Figures in Series II represent inflammatory processes in the subacute stages. These are transitory between the acute and chronic stages, as explained on page 49. Disease in the subacute stage yields readily to natural methods of living and of treatment. The figures from a to f portray lesions of increasing severity.

   The Figures in Series III represent the signs of chronic catarrhal conditions. The preponderance of black over the white indicates increasing destruction and sloughing of tissues.

   The Figures a, b, d and e of Series IV represent the chronic inflammatory processes in the last destructive stages, entailing loss of substance. We meet with such signs only in people endowed with exceptionally robust constitutions. Most chronic patients succumb when the disease reaches the stages represented by the lesions shown in Series III.

   Figures c and f in Series IV are signs of cancer in the last stage. Sign f showed very plainly in the iris of a woman dying with cancer of the stomach. The black spot was located near the pupil. The white streamers extended to the margin of the iris.

   We found lesion c in the intestinal area of a patient suffering from cancer in the transverse colon.

   One of the most interesting signs of the third and fourth stages of disease is the lymphatic or typhoid rosary. I have given it this name because the sign appears in the form of white flakes in the outer rim of the iris, resembling the beads of a rosary. This circular area is marked on the chart of the iris "Lymphatic system" (see chart--frontispiece). Wherever the white flakes appear in this area they indicate inflammation and an engorged condition of the lymph nodes in the corresponding parts of the lymphatic system or, in the later stages, an atrophic condition of the lymphatic glands. Frequently we find the flakes discolored with the characteristic pigments of drug poisons.

   The lymphatic rosary is not, as Liljequist says, the sign of arsenic, but since arsenic has a special affinity for the spleen and lymphatic system, the engorged condition of the lymph nodes and atrophy of the lymphatic glands may he and undoubtedly is in many cases the result of arsenical poisoning. The poison itself shows in white flakes resembling the beaten white of egg or snow flakes in the outer margin of the iris, therefore they may be easily mistaken for the lymphatic rosary (color plate, fig. b, p. 116). The latter, however, appears only in the outermost rim of the iris, just inside of the scurf rim, in orderly arrangement like the beads of a rosary, while the white flakes of arsenic may appear singly or in irregular groups anywhere in the outer half of the iris.

   We speak of the "typhoid" rosary because in many instances we find the sign in the eyes of people who have suffered from typhoid fever, which on account of suppressive treatment by drugs or ice was not allowed to run its natural course and left the glandular structures of the intestines and of the system in general in a more or less engorged and atrophic condition. This explains why we find the typhoid rosary usually associated with pronounced malassimilation, malnutrition and with the last stages of destructive, wasting diseases. Such patients never fully recover from the effects of the disease and only too often drift into tuberculosis, pernicious anemia or other slow but fatal wasting diseases. When under natural treatment the inflammation in the intestines runs its natural course, and when during the last stages of inflammation sufficient time is allowed for the reconstruction of the intestinal membranes and glandular structures, recovery is rapid and complete and the typhoid rosary does not appear in the iris.

   We find the rosary usually in the lower parts of the iris and as high up as the areas of lungs and neck (Figs. 13 and 22), less frequently in the fields of the sensory organs or in the brain region.

   These signs in the iris must not be mistaken for lesions. They are straight brown or black lines tapering to a fine point, radiating from the pupil or the sympathetic wreath to the outer margin of the iris. We find them most frequently in brown eyes, only rarely in the blue. They are probably formed by a massing of dark color pigment on the surface of the iris. Iridologists have not been able to attach any special importance to these interesting signs. I have found in many instances that they disappeared with general improvement and the clearing up of the brown color of the iris. Radii Solaris are visible in Fig. 6, Sections 3 and 4, p. 42. They are very plain in Fig. 9, p. 75, and Fig. 10, p. 95.

   In this connection it may be well to call attention to other conditions in the iris which might be mistaken for signs of lesions. In brown eyes, sometimes the blue underground shows in places through the brown surface. This indicates a good condition of the corresponding organs. In other instances the underlying blue or light brown shows dark in contrast with surrounding light or yellowish discolorations, and may thus be mistaken for dark lesions.

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