f the
most appalling character met my eyes. A gentleman in the prime of life,
lay extended on a bed--his hair dishevelled, his dress disordered, and his
complexion a midway hue between the tints of chalk and Cheshire cheese.
His tongue hung out of his mouth, loaded with evidence of internal strife.
I naturally believed that the present was a confirmed case of _phthisis
pulmonalis_, and I accordingly had recourse to my well known, and,
with-few-exceptions-always-successful remedy of inhaling. In this instance,
however, it did not answer my expectations. Instead of benefitting the
_trachea_, it produced a sympathetic affection of the stomach and
diaphragm, and the _oesophagus_ formed the medium of communication between
the patient and myself. Having taken a pinch of snuff, I was about to give
my other infallible remedy a fair trial, when the patient opened his eyes.
But, gracious heaven! what eyes! The visual orb was swoln, blood-shot,
troubled and intolerably dull. At the same moment, some incoherent
expressions fell from the unfortunate gentleman. After a reference to the
kidneys, he seemed to wish for something to be found in the _coal-hole_,
or the _cider-cellar_; but the search of the servant below stairs was
unavailing. I now began to apprehend delirium. To be sure of the state of
his mind, I inquired if there were any clergyman whom he would wish to see:
He exclaimed, "O venerable old Offley!" But when I expressed to the
servants a wish that this reverend gentleman might be sent for, they
assured me that they had never heard of him! The patient then muttered
some inarticulate sounds, and turned on his side. This position being
favourable for my original operation of rubbing, I slit up the back of his
coat, waistcoat, and all other vestmental impediments, and smartly applied
a solution of _tartarised antimony_ along the course of the spine. The
effect was instantaneous on the alimentary canal, and a griping in the
transverse arch of the _colon_ well nigh put a full stop to the patient's
sufferings. The _ductus communis choledochus_ again deluged the stomach,
and with the customary consequences. The scene now, became almost
insupportable. An aged nurse, who had, from the infancy of the patient,
been his domestic, declared that she could hold out no longer. Poor
creature! the tear of affection glistened in her eye; while her convulsed
features betrayed uncontrollable sensations. It was a struggle between the
heart and t