220 MORE POT-POURRI 



Athletics.' On Dr. Haig's recommendation I deserted 

 the extreme strictness of the German cure, and I have 

 undoubtedly felt stronger for taking more skimmed milk 

 (separated would be better) and a little cheese, though 

 whenever I am less well I go back to the Kuehne diet. 

 It was the greatest satisfaction to me to find a man whose 

 years of study and scientific investigations entirely 

 corresponded with my own groping experiences. If any- 

 body now ever asks me about the matter, I say : ' Eead 

 Dr. Haig's books, and then consult him or not as you like.' 

 His tables of diet are so severe that I am afraid they may 

 tempt a great number of people to agree with the late 



Lord D , who, when sent a sample of sherry which 



was recommended to him as being essentially wholesome, 

 wrote back that he found it so bitter and dry he much 

 preferred the gout. 



Although it is rare to find a doctor who will recommend 

 strict dieting in chronic cases, I think it is becoming 

 equally rare for a doctor to make any objection if the 

 patient himself proposes it. He will not risk offending 

 a patient by not giving him medicines and by greatly 

 reducing his food. One can hardly blame a doctor for 

 this, and it brings us to the conclusion that the initiative 

 in matters of diet and abstinence must come from the 

 patients themselves. 



Not many people seemed to take any interest in the 

 health allusions in my last book. Still I received the fol- 

 lowing letter, which, in a chapter bound to be unpopular, 

 the few who read it may find as interesting as I did : 



' I have been specially interested in your health 

 chapter, for if there is one subject more than another 

 which ought to be thrashed out by the lay mind it is 

 health. On it depends to a great extent the future 

 progress of mankind. As a rule, individuals lean to the 

 idea that it is not a question for themselves to think on. 



