the iron hand of fashion has not
fastened itself so relentlessly upon them as to dwarf their bodies and
warp their souls, as it has in some degree the gentler and better and
more tender half of mankind, to whom the larger share of this chapter
seems the more directly to apply.

CHAPTER IX.

HINTS TO INVALIDS AND OTHERS.

Indiscretions.--Care of themselves.--Singular effect of consumption on
mind.--How to dress.--Absurdities of dress.--Diet.--Habits of
people.--How English people eat.--What consumptives should eat.--Things
to be remembered.--The vanity of the race.--Pork an objectionable
article of diet.--Characteristics of the South.--Regularity in
eating.--The use of ardent spirits by invalids.--The necessity of
exercise.--The country the best place to train children.--Examples in
high quarters.--Sleep the best physician.--Ventilation.--Damp
rooms.--How to bathe.

It matters not what virtues climates may possess, if certain fundamental
laws regulating health are to be disregarded by the invalid. The robust
and strong may, perhaps, for a season violate these laws with impunity;
but, even in their cases, every serious indiscretion, if not immediately
felt, is as a draft on them, bearing some future date, sure of
presentation, while the payment is absolute. It may be five, fifteen, or
fifty years ere the boomerang of indiscretion returns, but come it will.
Invalids will need to watch and guard against all pernicious habits, and
to forego doing many things which they were accustomed to do while in
health, but which under the altered circumstances are extremely
injurious.

All pulmonic patients will, while taking counsel of some physician, do
well to remember that their cases rest largely in their own hands;
indeed, more depends on their own care of themselves than on the
efficacy of any system of medicine. Lung disease is usually of a most
flattering character, and its influence on the mind differs from that of
any other, in that the patient is lulled into a serene and hopeful
condition. This sense of security attends no other ill to the same
extent. It is perhaps fortunate that such is the case, since, in many
instances, there would be little vantage ground on which to rally.
Still, while this peculiarity seems to be and is an advantage, there is
another aspect of it which is quite as damaging, viz., the neglect and
inattention, into which the patient is, too often, betrayed by this
fancied security; frequ