a little care and study of the
ordinary rules of health, and of the watchful eye which is
given by every hunting man to his horse ?
One word more I must add about convalescence.
With the young and the healthy it is a time of hope and
even happiness, in spite of mourning over the lost muscles
and strength, and the irritating tyrannies of the sick-
room. But in long, chronic, hopeless illness modern
nursing, with all its real advantages, becomes an active
daily trial, only to be borne patiently from the same
feeling that makes all work and all trials bearable —
namely, for the time being, doing the disagreeable for the
sake of the ultimate good. It is our only method of
earning our daily bread by the sweat of our brow, the old
golden rule of life, which in all the forms it takes is still
the one that convinces us that life is worth living, if not
for ourselves, at any rate to continue our presence here for
the sake of those who dearly wish to keep us. And so
all the trials and fatigues of the three hours' nurse's rule
HEALTH 303
in the sick-room in the morning have to be gone through
as patiently and cheerfully as is possible. But he or she
can afterwards sink exhausted on the sofa or bed, and
can indeed say with the pride that belongs to each one of
us in our tiny sphere, * I, too, have not been idle — I, too,
have done my best for those who are dear to me.' But
it is weary work, and for the very weak they can only
feel how very much happier it would be to be left alone
and lie still and unbothered, instead of feeling more tired
than after a hard day's hunting.
For those who wish to learn, or those who are going
abroad or to live in out-of-the-way places, and for those
who do not care to have a doctor always in their
house, I will name a few books written for the public by
medical men and women of distinction and of great
experience, and who are in no sense of the word quacks.
The great difference, so far as I can see, between the
books of medical men and those of so-called quacks, is
that the latter have absolute faith in their remedies, and
use almost the identical old miraculous words, ' Wash
and be clean ' — and this really often answers — while the
books written by doctors employ a much more cautious
language. To an immense number of human beings the
narrow and forcible phraseology has great attractions, and
goes a long way in affecting the nerves and mind, which
are undoubted and powerful factors in all cures. Where
disease is advanced and real, is it not admitted by all
systems that alleviation, not cure, is all that is possible ?
The simulation of disease is often merely the result of
shattered or over-stimulated nerves. I fancy the medical
books come near the truth when they suggest that an
immense number of remedies and different treatments
may all do good under different circumstances. In my
opinion the cause of a vast amount of the bad health of
the present day is owing to the number of drugs that
304 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN
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a little care and study of the
ordinary rules of health, and of the watchful eye which is
given by every hunting man to his horse ?
One word more I must add about convalescence.
With the young and the healthy it is a time of hope and
even happiness, in spite of mourning over the lost muscles
and strength, and the irritating tyrannies of the sick-
room. But in long, chronic, hopeless illness modern
nursing, with all its real advantages, becomes an active
daily trial, only to be borne patiently from the same
feeling that makes all work and all trials bearable —
namely, for the time being, doing the disagreeable for the
sake of the ultimate good. It is our only method of
earning our daily bread by the sweat of our brow, the old
golden rule of life, which in all the forms it takes is still
the one that convinces us that life is worth living, if not
for ourselves, at any rate to continue our presence here for
the sake of those who dearly wish to keep us. And so
all the trials and fatigues of the three hours' nurse's rule
HEALTH 303
in the sick-room in the morning have to be gone through
as patiently and cheerfully as is possible. But he or she
can afterwards sink exhausted on the sofa or bed, and
can indeed say with the pride that belongs to each one of
us in our tiny sphere, * I, too, have not been idle — I, too,
have done my best for those who are dear to me.' But
it is weary work, and for the very weak they can only
feel how very much happier it would be to be left alone
and lie still and unbothered, instead of feeling more tired
than after a hard day's hunting.
For those who wish to learn, or those who are going
abroad or to live in out-of-the-way places, and for those
who do not care to have a doctor always in their
house, I will name a few books written for the public by
medical men and women of distinction and of great
experience, and who are in no sense of the word quacks.
The great difference, so far as I can see, between the
books of medical men and those of so-called quacks, is
that the latter have absolute faith in their remedies, and
use almost the identical old miraculous words, ' Wash
and be clean ' — and this really often answers — while the
books written by doctors employ a much more cautious
language. To an immense number of human beings the
narrow and forcible phraseology has great attractions, and
goes a long way in affecting the nerves and mind, which
are undoubted and powerful factors in all cures. Where
disease is advanced and real, is it not admitted by all
systems that alleviation, not cure, is all that is possible ?
The simulation of disease is often merely the result of
shattered or over-stimulated nerves. I fancy the medical
books come near the truth when they suggest that an
immense number of remedies and different treatments
may all do good under different circumstances. In my
opinion the cause of a vast amount of the bad health of
the present day is owing to the number of drugs that
304 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN