. In truth,
these employments and avocations kept him up a great many nights during
a considerable portion of the year, and were evidently wearing him out
prematurely; for, though less than forty years of age, he had the
appearance of being fifty or sixty.

This severe tasking of his system, had led him greatly into temptation.
Not only had he acquired the habit of chewing tobacco, as a solace in
his seclusion and toil, but also of drinking very freely of cider and
cider brandy; the last two of which, as might naturally be inferred from
what has been said, he was accustomed to manufacture in large
quantities. He was not a great eater, though I have no doubt he ate too
much. But he did not take time to eat--he did not masticate any thing;
almost every thing was swallowed in masses, and washed down with tea,
coffee, or cider. Then, lastly and finally, he ate, as it were, by the
job, when he _did_ eat; for his meals were very irregular and sometimes
very infrequent.

Another thing should be noticed. His cider and perhaps his tobacco,
having leagued together, took away his appetite. Cider, as is well
known, practically and in a gradual way, takes away the appetite, and so
does coffee. Many a farmer will tell you that it is a matter of economy
to give his laborers cider or coffee, since they will not eat so much.
It is highly probable that brandy, and indeed all extra stimulants, have
the same appetite-destroying effect.

And as the result of his various irregularities and abuses, his
digestive and nervous systems had become very much deranged and
disordered, and I could hardly help foreboding evil concerning him. I
prescribed for him as well as I could, and requested him to call on me
in two or three days, and "report progress."

On the next day but one, I was summoned to his bedside. My medicine had
indeed appeared to afford him a little temporary relief, but it was only
temporary. He was now much worse than ever before. I prescribed again;
but it was with similar effect. Nature, somewhat relieved, as I then
vainly imagined, seemed disposed to rally, but was unable. Every
successive effort to rally, showed more and more clearly how much she
had been crippled. At least she seemed to succumb either to the
treatment or the disease, which last became in the end quite formidable.

But though Nature had yielded, apparently vanquished, she still made
occasional faint efforts, every two or three days, to regain the
supremacy