No. 2. 



Consiunpiive Patients. 



59 



Consumptive Patients. 



The Horticulturist of the present month, in noticing 

 Bernan's IRstory and jirt of Warming and Ventilating 

 Rooms, dj-c, makes the following extract from the work. 

 It is, to say the least of it, quite amusing in its cha- 

 racter, and we apprehend will not be likely to do 

 barm. We all know that the freshness of the healthy 

 milch cow's breath is proverbial; ami the editor very 

 well remembers to have heard it long ago observed, 

 that the atmosphere of the cow-stable w'as wholesome. 



The subject of warming and ventilating our apart- 

 ments, is by the way, one which we seem to know but 

 little about. We forget that we too frequently econo 

 mize the fuel we use, at the e.xpense of health. It can- 

 not be heallhy to live in our coal stove rooii.s, where 

 all the heat is retained, and no circulation of air kept 

 up. A little extra fuel is cheaper than the Doctor's 

 bill, or diseased lungs,— Ep, 



" After an illness, says Madame Meze- 

 ray, during which I took little care of my- 

 self, I fell into a consumption. At length I 

 spit blood in clots, and had other bad symp- 

 toms. I lost my sleep; and being as ill as 

 possible, I had several consultations with the 

 first physicians in Paris. They concluded 

 my complaint was too far advanced to leave 

 any hope of a cure; but they prescribed ass's 

 milk, and exercise on horseback; which last 

 I was too weak to take. 



" I was nineteen. I beheld my end ap- 

 proach with deep dismay. One day, when 

 I was bewailing myself, a very sensible 

 friend of mine paid me a visit. In the 

 midst of his condolence he said, since all 

 the physicians abandon you, let me bring 

 you a man who is treated here as a charla- 

 tan because he is not known, but who in my 

 opinion is a man of merit. He brought him. 

 I spit blood in clots. I was in such violent 

 pain, and my fever was so high, that I cried 

 out, 'Ah, if there be yet time, save me!' 

 He promised to do all in his power; but I 

 heard him say, in a low voice, that it was 

 very late. He made me promise to follow 

 his orders exactly, how painful soever they 

 might be; and I kept my word. Finding 

 that a remedy he prescribed had not the de- 

 sired effect, he gave orders for a cow-house 

 to be prepared for me, which was finished 

 in a day, in a coach-house belonging to my 

 house. They broke open a window, and 

 contrived stalls for three cows; a wooden 

 railing, high enough for me to lean upon, 

 was all that separated me from the animals. 

 My bed was placed upon planks about a foot 

 from the ground, the better to let the filth 

 run under; and the planks were purposely 

 ill-joined, that the vapour miglit rise through 

 them ; and this was so strong, that every 

 thing white which was brought in became 

 reddish in a short time. 



" My apartment was divided into two 

 rooms. That which I lived in was pretty 

 large, and held a bed with curtains, sur- 

 rounded by a gauze blind to keep away the 

 flies, which always abound in stables, and 

 are particularly insupportable during illness, 

 a wooden table, two straw chairs without 

 cushions, and bare walls — such was my 

 chamber. There was a sort of anti-chamber 

 for the woman who took care of the cows. 

 My surgeon and waiting-maid lodged over 

 head. I had bells to call them at pleasure. 



"I soon spit less blood. After being a 

 week in the cow-house, my legs ceased 

 swelling. Other symptoms improved. The 

 night sweats I almost always had continued 

 long after, but finally left me. From the 

 moment I entered it, I renounced every 

 species of food except milk : I did not taste 

 bread even for nine months. People came 

 to see me as an object of curiosity. The 

 Duchess of Orleans paid me a visit; and, 

 after my recovery, she recommended Doctor 

 SaifFert to the Duke, which was the means 

 of making his fortune. Here I remained 

 nine months without intermission, with the 

 exception of a few rides in a close carriage. 

 In short, he saved me at the expense of my 

 hair only, which all fell off. It was neces- 

 sary to repair my fore teeth, which I had 

 neglected in my illness; and I was abso- 

 lutely forbid to play on the harp, which had 

 made my breath very short ; but what is all 

 this in comparison with life] I am now be- 

 come quite a strong woman ; and although 

 not so vigorous now at thirty-six as when I 

 was nineteen, for all that I think I shail 

 weather life out very well." 



" In daring to commit such cases to the 

 public," says the benevolent and enthusias- 

 tic Beddoes, " I feel that I am preparing a 

 feast for those who resort to ridicule, if not 

 as a test of truth, yet as the supreme delight 

 of rational and immortal minds; but I hope 

 also to inte'rest those whom no ludicrous ac- 

 cessories can prevent from viewing with 

 complacency the first awkward and unsteady 

 advances towards an useful object." 



A daughter of the celebrated Priestly 

 having applied for advice: "In her case, to 

 have placed the smallest reliance on medi- 

 cine," says the doctor, "would have been to 

 encourage a fatal delusion ; and there only 

 remained the choice between a sea-voyage 

 and a constant residence with cows. She 

 asked me which alternative I should prefer 

 in her situation. I told her undoubtedly with 

 cows." And she made the experiment un- 

 der his direction. 



The stable provided for this lady was 

 twenty-fourfeet long, fourteen feet wide, and 

 nine feet high. A space partitioned off, waa 



