3i8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



out some definite plans and occupation. As soon as practicable, it 

 is advisable for such a one to take up some pursuit, either of busi- 

 ness or of study, which will give such occupation as is consistent with 

 his physical condition. The geology, mineralogy, fauna and flora of 

 this State, so rich in themselves and so different from those in the East, 

 furnish, to one so disposed, ample fields of study and inquiry, the pur- 

 suit of which will be a help rather than a hindrance to recovery. The 

 collecting of a cabinet, requiring as it would something of an out-of- 

 door life, or the getting together of an herbarium of all the choice and 

 unusual flowers and plants of this State, would furnish occupation of 

 an instructive and diverting kind. If one undertakes to study even 

 the birds, he will be surprised to find how many species there are, and 

 will be equally astonished to discover among them his old friends the 

 bobolink, wren, oriole, and the indigo-bird, of the Eastern States. 



It may be a good thing for the person affected with phthisis to go 

 into ranching, after he has been in the State long enough to know 

 what he is about in doing so ; but we enter a protest against the idea, 

 which is somewhat prevalent in the East, that in order to recover his 

 health the invalid should go on to a ranch and herd sheep. The rea- 

 sons for making this proterst are that such advice is frequently given, 

 and, as we are led to judge, by physicians who have but the vaguest 

 ideas of the nature of the course they are prescribing. The invalid, on 

 coming to Colorado, needs to have life made as easy and pleasant for 

 him as possible. As a rule, the sacrifices he has to make, in conse- 

 quence of his sickness, render him for the time being peculiarly depend- 

 ent upon sympathy. He should be so situated that he can have the 

 benefit of pleasant society and diverting companionship. Now, ranch- 

 life is necessarily somewhat rough and usually monotonous, and, when 

 it comes to herding sheep, even a vigorous man, new at the business, 

 finds it most irksome and fatiguing. We think it is a great mistake 

 to increase the trials of an invalid by imposing upon him, in addition 

 to a separation from his friends, an almost entire absence of compan- 

 ionship, a life that is rough in the extreme, and a dietary that is innu- 

 tritions, uninviting, and monotonous. The average ranch-house is a 

 miserable shanty, out on the plains, away from neighbors, where the 

 usual diet is bacon floating in grease ; hot flapjacks, made fresh with 

 water and baking-powder ; molasses, and coffee without milk. 



If it be possible for the invalid to go to some nice ranch, near a 

 village, where he can have good, wholesome diet, pleasant associates, 

 out-of-door occupation, and where his hours will necessarily be regu- 

 lar, then the conditions for recovery are excellent. Such ranches are 

 to be found. But the average ranch, on the plains, is much inferior 

 to the average farm-house in the East, and the surroundings and diet 

 are such as, at first, to try very severely the strongest man. 



The matter of diet is one to which, as it seems to the writer, suffi- 

 cient attention is not usually paid by the invalid. He should be so 



