f oxygen inhaled at each breath. By compelling his
patients, however weak and feeble, to breathe a cold atmosphere, he
secured to them an increased and full supply of oxygen.

To prevent his patients from suffering, in consequence of the external
atmospheric cold, he keeps them in warm beds, and only suffers them to
be out of bed a very short time, at long intervals. And while out of bed
even, they are rubbed rapidly, in order to prevent any collapse of the
skin from the cold. I knew him to keep a very delicate female, who was
scrofulous if not consumptive, for several weeks of the coldest part of
the winter, in a room whose temperature seldom exceeded 30 deg. to 40
deg., scarcely permitting her to go out of it night or day, and what is
still more curious, she slowly recovered under the treatment, and is
now--seven or eight years afterwards--in the enjoyment of excellent
health.

CHAPTER LXXI.

THE AIR-CURE.

The individual alluded to in the preceding chapter, once sent for me to
come and aid him for a time. He was the proprietor of a somewhat
dilapidated water-cure establishment, which he wished to convert into
what he chose to denominate an air-cure. For though half a physician
himself, he had usually employed men of education to assist him; but,
not having been quite fortunate in his selection, in every instance, he
was disposed to make trial of myself.

In expressing to me his desires, he said he understood, perfectly well,
my position. He well knew, in the first place, that I was not a
hydropathist, but a regular, old-school physician, with this
modification: that I had, for the most part, lost my faith in medicine,
and relied chiefly on the recuperative efforts of Nature. He thought, on
some points, as he said, a little differently from me; still, he
supposed that wherein we could not agree we could at least agree to
differ.

The sum total of his wishes, in short, was, that I would aid him in such
way and manner as might seem to me best. He believed air to be the most
important and efficient remedial agent in the world. His ideas of the
virtue of this aerial fluid were hardly exceeded by those of Mr.
Thackrah, of Leeds, England, who believes that we subsist more on air
than on food and drink.

I was with this good man about six months, when, finding it impossible
to carry out his plan, I left him. But I left him with regret. His
purposes were generous in the extreme--I might even say noble. He lov