63 



2. Many of the names are very indefinite, or, one might say, they 

 are just as definite as the conditions to which they refer, and where a 

 thing is indefinite, one naturally cannot expect a defiuite name. 



3. There was no 'organic disease' (until the very end), and some of 

 the names and expressions used were later on found to be erroneous. Take, 

 for instance, the terms relating to the heart, 'dilatation,' and 'enlargement.' 

 The diagnosis was made at a time when Huxley was feeling bad and he 

 was therefore sent to Switzerland. But he began to feel better almost 

 as soon as he got into the good mountain air — and then he began to climb 

 the mountains. Offhand, one would be inclined to say that that was a 

 very foolhardy act, because he might have fallen off the mountain, or 

 dropped into a crevice, and no one would have known what had become 

 of him ; but he felt he could climb, and he did climb higher and higher day 

 after day. Then one of the English physicians made him a visit and natur- 

 ally examined him. Huxley says, "H. Thompson treats the notion that I 

 ever had a dilated heart with scorn!" and then adds, "Oh these doctors; 

 they are worse than theologians." But when he returned to England his 

 old complaint came back. Evidently, however, he had the satisfaction of 

 knowing that he did not have organic heart disease. 



With increasing years there was an increasing reaction to an un- 

 sanitary environment, he could spend less and less time in the crowded city, 

 finally he had to leave altogether. One wonders why Huxley did not 

 leave the enervating city life and retire to the good air of the country, 

 as did Darwin. 1 



What do we mean by health and illhealth and disease? A man may 

 complain of illhealth and yet not be diseased. As a matter of fact, we 

 constantly meet people who look the picture of health, but on studying 

 them we find that they are always suffering, yet on account of their 

 'healthy' appearance, they get no sympathy when they do complain, and 

 so many do not complain — only to the physician who critically studies 

 conditions. 



Many of these individuals are simply out of harmony with their en- 

 vironment. If we take a native of the torrid zone and put him in the 

 frigid zone, we would likely find him complaining constantly of the in- 



1 Charles Darwin reacted to his environment, after the manner of Huxley. Some of 

 you may recall my paper before this Academy several years ago in which I aimed to bring 

 out this point. But Darwin lived in isolation and came little in contact with sick people, 

 and his symptoms are even less well denned, although he complains almost constantly 

 and loses much time. Getting a lot of old books from the city and reading them while 

 reclining on a couch are among the important factors in Darwin's ill health. 



