In these days when the name of Mahatma Gandhi is identified with the momentous question of Non-Co-operation, it may come with a shock of surprise to most readers to be told that he is something of an authority on matters of Health and Disease as well. Very few of us perhaps are aware that he is the author of quite an original little Health-book in Gujarati. Those who think of him as a dreamy idealist or an unpractical visionary, with his head always in the clouds, will certainly be undeceived when they read this book replete from cover to cover with practical observations on the most practical question of Health. His views are of course radically different from the ordinary views that find expression in the pages of such books; in many cases, indeed, his doctrines must be pronounced revolutionary, and will doubtless be regarded by a certain class of readers as wholly impracticable. Even the most revolutionary of his doctrines, however, are based, not on the shifting quicksands of mere theory, but on the solid foundation of deep study, backed up by personal experience of nearly thirty years.
