56 AMBROISE PARfi 



God He would show me this grace, that he should recover; 

 and that He would bless our hands and our medicaments, 

 to fight such a complication of diseases. I discussed in 

 my mind the means I must take to do this. They called 

 me to dinner. I came into the kitchen, and there I saw, 

 taken out of a great pot, half a sheep, a quarter of veal, 

 three great pieces of beef, two fowls, and a very big piece 

 of bacon, with abundance of good herbs: then I said to 

 myself that the broth of the pot would be full of juices, and 

 very nourishing. 



After dinner, we began our consultation, all the physi- 

 cians and surgeons together, in the presence of M. le Due 

 d' Ascot and some gentlemen who were with him. I began 

 to say to the surgeons that I was astonished they had 

 not made incisions in M. le Marquis' thigh, seeing that 

 it was all suppurating, and the thick matter in it very foetid 

 and offensive, showing it had long been pent up there ; 

 and that I had found with the probe caries of the bone, 

 and scales of bone, which were already loose. They an- 

 swered me : " Never would he consent to it " ; indeed, it was 

 near two months since they had been able to get leave 

 to put clean sheets on his bed; and one scarce dared touch 

 the coverlet, so great was his pain. Then I said, " To heal 

 him, we must touch something else than the coverlet of his 

 bed." Each said what he thought of the malady of the 

 patient, and in conclusion they all held it hopeless. I 

 told them there was still some hope, because he was young, 

 and God and Nature sometimes do things which seem 

 to physicians and surgeons impossible. 



To restore the warmth and nourishment of the body, 

 general frictions must be made with hot cloths, above, 

 below, to right, to left, and around, to draw the blood and 

 the vital spirits from within outward. . . . For the bed- 

 sore, he must be put in a fresh, soft bed, with clean shirt 

 and sheets. . . . Having discoursed of the causes and 

 complications of his malady, I said we must cure them by 

 their contraries ; and must first ease the pain, making 

 openings in the thigh to let out the matter. . . . Second- 

 ly, having regard to the great swelling and coldness of the 

 limb, we must apply hot bricks round it, and sprinkle them 



