107 



wise from this disease. But such a paltry considera- 

 tion is beneath the philosophy of Dr. Butler. 

 Although he very properly snaps up his own querist 

 with " Why do you not look at Answers to Queries ? " 

 he himself stands in no need of making himself 

 conversant with elementary medicine before pro- 

 pounding his very definite ultimatum, couched in the 

 shape of a conundrum on his own part, with regard to 

 a disease— which does not exist ! 



And then the engaging ingenuousness he displays 

 when told of the non-existence of this disease ! How 

 blandly he seeks to disarm us of any unkind 

 thoughts, how frankly he throws himself as it were 

 on our mercy by confessing that he is not a 

 medical man and that he is therefore not able to 

 distinguish one disease from another! But like the 

 celebrated navvy who assured the Bishop of Man- 

 chester that there had been no necessity for him to 

 learii how to swear, he cannot even now hide his 

 Heaven born gift, for he goes on to say that anyhow 

 it is " the " disease which does attack cage birds. At 

 this point the aforesaid stupid ordinary person is heard 

 to murmur gently, " The disease ? which disease? I 

 thought there were several which attacked birds. 

 Surely there must be some mistake here ! " But here 

 again this ordinary person is wrong. Dr. Butler is 

 independent of such trifles. He sees no difference 

 between typhoid and septicaemia, and therefore con- 

 cludes there is none. Either of them, or both of them, 

 or for that matter one which is neither of them, is 

 *' the " disease. Indeed so certain is Dr. Butler on 

 this point that we learn later on that in spite of not 

 being able — by his own confession — to recognise one 

 disease from another, he is quite able to assure us that 

 at various times he has lost birds from " the" disease. 

 What a simple matter after all it must be to him to 

 instruct us on the properties of ^g% food ! But then 

 it is not given to all of us to be able to take such a 



