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AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



other spas in Germany, I am satisfied that 

 every one of these advantages are to be found 

 at Aix-la-Chapelle ; and that they would be 

 reaped most abundantly, were it not that their 

 salutary effect is neutralised by the dainty cheer, 

 prepared with an unsparing hand, in every hotel 

 of note, in this much-frequented town. 



Here it is that we see people of dilapidated 

 frame, sitting down to a dinner which might 

 vie with Ovid's description of Chaos in its 

 materials, and in the nature of them. 



« Frigida pugnabant calidis, humantia siccis, 

 Molliacum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus." 



As the partaker of this heterogeneous display 

 of aliment has to pay for admission to it, he 

 considers that he is entitled to value for value ; 

 and under this impression, his jaws belabour 

 his stomach so unmercifully, that all advantage 

 to be derived from the medicinal waters is 

 completely lost ; and his constitution gains no- 

 thing in the end, for the trouble and expense 

 of a visit to Aix-la-Chapelle. Physicians may 

 write what they please, and prescribe any mode 

 they choose ; but until they can compel their 

 patients to be moderate on plain diet, there will 

 be little or nothing effected in the way of a 

 permanent cure. 



