Disease and premature death are caused by a retained principle of corruption in the body; no one need die of disease, and timely purgation removes the cause, since (in the book's own formulation) purgation is what stands between life and death.
This is the case’s longevity claim, stated by Brandreth in his own words in The Doctrine of Purgation (1871): natural death is merely “a cessation of all the faculties,” so any earlier death is “premature, not natural,” caused by an inner “principle of corruption.” All men must die, the book concedes, but no one need die of disease: purgation in time, on this account, is what stands between a natural lifespan and an early one. The attached record documents the promotional mechanism but contains no controlled test connecting purgation to lifespan, so the Claim is recorded as untested.
Appears in
Sources
- The Doctrine of Purgation, Curiosities from Ancient and Modern Literature — Brandreth, B[enjamin], M.D., comp. The Doctrine of Purgation, Curiosities from Ancient and Modern Literature: A Collection of Quotations on the Use of Purgatives, from Hippocrates, and Other Medical Writers, Covering a Period of Over Two Thousand Years, Proving Purgation is the Corner-stone of all Curatives. 2nd ed. New York: Baker & Godwin, Printers, 1871. Wellcome Collection, shelfmark IJP, digitized copy b24854797.