GENERAL DISEASES. 439 
‘months’ absence, he returned to say that he was strong and 
felt well except a sharp pain in his kidneys. Urinary 
-examination showed that I had gone to the other extreme in 
‘my treatment. Quantity and colour normal; specific gravity 
1032; no trace of albumen; urates and urea in great excess ; 
uric acid in large quantities ; other normal constitutents about 
‘normal in amount and no blood or casts. 
‘“‘T ordered the medicine stopped and gradually made a 
‘complete change in the diet. For medicine I gave a 
‘teaspoonful of the effervescing citrate of lithia in a half- 
glassful of pure water every two hours, which treatment 
ultimately removed the excess of waste and irritation, and the 
‘man has since continued in good health.” 
In cases where dropsy supervenes the doctor recommends 
fluid extract of bitter root. We have quoted from others 
‘because we have not had much experience with the trouble 
ourselves, and the cases we know of having been treated by 
‘the faculty with the ordinary treatment, all terminated fatally, 
so that with Bright’s disease the prospects of a cure are not very 
bright to the patient under their treatment. If any of our 
readers are labouring under it, we strongly recommend them to 
‘try the botanic first; if that fails try the other; and if the 
kidneys and system have not gone beyond the possibility of 
repa:~ there is hope. 
OBESITY. 
Of the two extremes, thick and thin, it is difficult to tel] 
‘which is worse. We imagine that those on both sides think 
theirs is the least desirable. It is generally thought that fat 
people have the remedy in their own hands. This is so, to a 
great extent, but not absolutely, as some persons have dieted 
themselves almost to starvation without much, if any, 
reduction. There are three things which, if used properly, 
will assist in removing the superabundance of fat—diet, water, 
and exercise. The mind must be made up to lose the 
gratification derived from pleasant food. Self-denial is indis- 
pensable. As an anti-fat diet the following is the scale 
