THE HYGIENIC TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION 93 



the phthisical man should not exert his skill. The exertion of blow- 

 ing these instruments interferes materially with the regular play of 

 the respiration and circulation. In playing upon stringed instruments, 

 moreover, the amusement should not be carried on until it wearies 

 the performer. Mothers anxious for the accomplishments of their 

 daughters make frequently a fatal mistake on this score. They place 

 a poor child, who has no musical tastes, at the piano-forte ; and there 

 she is made to sit hour after hour, until a lesson is perforce learned, or 

 an exercise completed. The system, useless in an educational sense, 

 is fraught with direct danger to health. 



For the consumptive, reading aloud is a good daily practice. Cu- 

 vier, the great naturalist, attributed his recovery from threatened 

 phthisis to the delivery of some lectures which he was appointed to 

 give. There should, of course, be a limit to the time of reading aloud ; 

 it should never exceed an hour, should be stopped if hoarseness or 

 weariness occur, and should be without effort or vociferation. 



The selection of books for the entertainment of the mind is a fur- 

 ther and important point. Exciting romances, filled with the narra- 

 tions of deep and fiendish plots or hyper-poetic sentiments, are quite 

 out of place, for they, through the mind, influence respiration to the 

 detriment of the physical forces of life. So also do dull, monotonous, 

 whining, terror-striking treatises, of whatever kind. But the book 

 which is amusing, and which, with easy effort, raises the hearty laugh 

 at an innocent picture, or the book which carries the reader along the 

 page of history with gentle carriage, or tells of natural facts in natural 

 language — this is the book to be sought for. 



Singing is an amusement which may with prudence be followed by 

 the consumptive in whom the tendency to the disease is indicated only, 

 and the disease itself is not actually developed. The exertion must 

 not, however, be kept up so long at any given time as to produce 

 breathlessness or hoarseness. It must be done without labor or dis- 

 tress, and at intervals when the body is in a condition to sustain the 

 effort. It is then useful. 



To sum up, the amusements of the consumptive should combine 

 with the pleasure they afford a moderate and equal degree of muscular 

 exercise, and with the muscular exercise a degree of exhilarating amuse- 

 ment free from over-excitement and mental toil. 



Rule VIII. Cleanliness of Body is a Special Point in the Treat- 

 ment of Consumption. — But little need be said to enforce this rule. 

 In health there is always a mutual understanding and a kind of part- 

 nership between the skin and lungs. In consumption moderate action 

 of the skin is a relief to the lungs, and as such ought to be encouraged. 

 This is best attained by keeping the skin clean by daily ablution. Let 

 the consumptive boldly take his bath as each morning comes ; not a 

 shower-bath, not a cold bath, under any impression that water cast on 

 the body in a certain fashion, or at a certain temperature, will give 



