78 The Naturalist of Cumbrae. 



family, but she observed that the risk would be still 

 greater for himself wherever he went to lodge, and 

 pointed out that he must also consider the result of 

 his coming in contact with the workers at Mr. 

 Douglas's establishment, where he spent the greater 

 part of his time. In the face of so many obstacles he 

 made up his mind not to attend the cholera hospital. 



Some time after this he caught a fever, and was 

 very ill. When he had reached the recovery stage, 

 with every prospect of getting well, the doctor 

 judiciously pointed out that there was much more 

 danger now of his communicating the disease to the 

 family than there had been in the first stages of his 

 illness, and recommended that he should be taken to 

 the infirmary. His landlady would not hear of the 

 proposal. She said that, if the case had been with 

 one of her own family, she would on no account 

 have sent one of them to the infirmary, neither would 

 she send him. He would have liked well enough to 

 have stayed where he was, but, seeing the danger of 

 illness, or even death, to which he might be exposing 

 the family of his kind landlady by staying, he insisted 

 on being removed, and this, after some further argu- 

 ing, was agreed to. 



Unfortunately, just after his removal to the in- 

 firmary, he had so serious a relapse that little hope 

 was entertained of his surviving. He was for a con- 

 siderable time unconscious, and his recovery was slow 

 and tedious. As a medical student, he received not 

 less but, if anything, rather more than his fair share 

 of attention, and had, moreover, the privilege of a 

 bedroom to himself. 



