07._

My dear Will,-- ... After elaborate revision and correction I have sent
my MS. of the little "Mars" book to Macmillans yesterday.... Will you
read the whole proofs carefully, in the character of the "intelligent
reader"? Your fresh eye will detect little slips, bad logic, too
positive statements, etc., which I may have overlooked. It will only be
about 100 or 150 pages large type--and I want it to be really good, and
free from blunders that any fool can see....

* * * * *

For some years now he had suffered from repeated attacks of asthma and
bronchitis. He had tried the usual remedies for these complaints without
any good results, and, though still able to write, had then no thought
of beginning any large work; in fact, he considered he had but a few
more years to live. When Mr. Bruce-Joy came to see him in order to model
the portrait medallion, he mentioned in the course of conversation that
he had tried the Salisbury treatment with wonderful results. Our father
was at first incredulous, but decided to try it in a modified form. He
gave up all starchy foods and ate beef only, cooked in a special manner
to render it more digestible. He found such relief from this change of
diet that from this time onwards he followed a very strict daily
routine, which he continued to the end of his life with slight
variations.

He made himself a cup of tea on a gas stove in his bedroom at 6 a.m.
(the exact quantity of tea and water having been measured the previous
evening), and boiled it in a small double saucepan for a definite time
by the watch. He always said this cup of tea tasted better than at any
other time of the day. He then returned to bed and slept till 8 a.m.
During his last two or three years he suffered from rheumatism in his
shoulder and it took him a long time to dress, and he called in the aid
of his gardener in the last year, who acted as his valet. While dressing
he prepared a cup of cocoa on the gas stove, which he carried into the
study (next door) at 9 a.m. This was all he had for breakfast, and he
took it while reading the paper or his letters.

Dinner at one o'clock was taken with his family, and he usually related
any interesting or striking news he had read in the paper, or in his
correspondence, and commented upon it, or perhaps he would tell us of
some new flower in the garden.

He drank hot water with a little Canary sack and a dash of soda-water,
to which he ad