FROM EDINBURGH TO THE ANTARCTIC 
with that calm, Jove-likc air of all-knowingness that so few 
physicians succeed in acquiring even after years of practice, 
an expression of calm confidence that springs, I suppose, 
from the absolute knowledge of the complete ignorance 
of the patient. All he said was, *Ruh this vigorously on 
your head three times a day' And he did rub it — you can 
trust a sailor to do a thing well when he does do it. The 
crew tell me he sat for days afterwards holystoning his 
head in his watch below. The result is astonishing; — 
the good man is as vain as can be of his second crop. 
Whether it was the mixture, or a faith cure, or massage 
that made the hair grow, I cannot say ; possibly the shocks 
and frights of this Antarctic life have the opposite effect 
from that which they have at the other end of the world, 
possibly all these causes effected the cure. At any rate, 
it is certain that hair now is where there was none before. 
We tried some ourselves, more as a preventive measure, 
we may say, than as a cure ; but the perfume in our small 
cabin was such that we were obliged to discontinue its use. 
As assistant-surgeon I have naturally taken considerable 
interest in my superior's work, and some of the cures I 
have seen him effect were really interesting ; being behind 
the scenes, as it were, I have had opportunities which I 
trust have not been neglected. 
One case in particular gave me great interest, and our 
doctor's diagnosis and treatment filled me with admira- 
tion. The patient was a youth who suffered from various 
painful and alarming symptoms, that on different days 
affected him in different parts of his system; so many 
and varied were these that I felt anxious as to whether 
