76 HORSE-BACK RIDING. 



under whose influence pathological conditions of the 

 system of a determinate character are produced. 



Scudamore regards gout as the result of the dietetic 

 habit of the individual, and says that : " Any con- 

 dition or occupation which leads to inactivity and re- 

 pletion, or in which one only takes passive exercise, 

 leads to gout." 



With us here, however, the question is not as to 

 the nature and causes of the disease — since its symp- 

 toms are characteristic, and but too well known — but 

 how are we to prevent another attack ? 



The experience of every day confirms the truth 

 of the statement that active exercise prevents gout. 

 We know that laboring men rarely suffer from this 

 disease unless there be in them an hereditary disposi- 

 tion. 



The treatment of a gouty patient in the interval 

 between the attacks, whether they be regular or 

 irregular, must of course be chiefly dietetic ; the in- 

 stances are not few where men of strong will, men 

 masters of, not slaves to their appetites, having been 

 w^arned by one attack, have thenceforward resolutely 

 abstained from rich living and strong drink of all 

 kinds, and have been rewarded for their self-denial 

 and prudence, if not by complete immunity from all 

 further assaults, at least by very few and feeble visi- 

 tations ; on the other hand, there are many who, 

 possessing a gouty tendency, know only too well, 

 from personal experience^ that a single debauch, or 



