s. Now, how do
you account for it?"

"There is no possibility of accounting for it, my son, and why should we
talk about it? If any thing can be done to cure it, I am sure I shall be
glad; but though I admit that the complaint may have had a cause--and
indeed _must_ have had--I do not think we shall ever be able to trace it
out."

The son still adhered to the opinion that the coffee was the cause of
the father's sufferings; and there was reason for believing that the
father was more than half convinced of it himself; only that he was too
proud to confess it. He concluded by asking his father if he would like
to consult me on the subject--to which he cheerfully consented.

On a careful investigation of the case, I came to a full conclusion that
the son was right in his conjectures; that the coffee was the principal
source of his troubles; and that troubles still more serious might
befall him unless he abandoned it; and accordingly I told him so.

It was a severe trial. He was, in truth, a most inveterate
coffee-drinker; and the greater his slavery to it had become, the
greater his reluctance to believe it produced, on him, any injurious
effects. He consented, at length, to leave off its use for two months,
and see if it made any difference with him. Being, however, about half a
convert to hydropathy, as was also his son, it was concluded, with my
permission, to apply the cold _douche_ every day to his knee, by way of
an adjunct to the abstinence plan. No change was made in his diet; as,
in fact, very little was needed after the coffee had been removed. "But
one thing is needful," at the same meal, had long been his motto; and he
was never excessive in the use of even that.

The coffee was laid aside, and resolution was put to the test. He
suffered in his feelings for want of his accustomed stimulus during the
first month; but during the second, very little. In about five weeks
after I saw and had prescribed for him, I met him one day, by accident,
and inquired about his lameness. "Very much better," said he, smiling;
"but no thanks to you for it. It is the _douche_ which is curing me." I
replied that I was not very solicitous to know the cause, provided he
was cured.

On a more particular inquiry I found that his lameness had nearly
disappeared already; and what is more remarkable still, it never
returned. As long as he lived he could walk up and down stairs nearly as
well as I. He continued to be a water-drinker