Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-11-30
REMEDIES FOR A WEAK CHEST.

invites attention to it would have been in the
grave forty years ago had not similar instruc-
tons, given by celebrated physician of the
West, been implicitly obeyed. His injunction
was Livs on horse flesh, iH the open air
groom y0HTsHLf az yoRr horse is gToonlsd, and
cold bath after cHrTy'ns-sat for digestion,
NOT for 1afaIgence-s1re Physie to the dogs,
Or ieaUs az to the doctors"
The ERT OF RESTORING HEALrH.-In the
last number of the Home Journal, is a letter
from n p Willis, in answer to another from q
Presbyterian clergyman of eonsumptiye habit,
who has tried travelling ut the south without
any essential benefit, who lives in house but
moderately warm, with a carefully adjusted
temperature and a thorough ventilation, re-
naming without doors most of the time, with
regular exercise, and in favorable weather
taking, In ;he course Of the day, brisk walk
Of half mile With all this care be does not
get we'll, and inqu ufres what method Mr. Willis
has pursued that he is no longer to be classed
among consumptives.
The answer lays down so admirable method
for the recovery of health, in those cases where
there is yet in the constitution sufficient
strength to build upon, that we copy il entire.
We must remember, however, that the writer
has possibly made too little allowance for the
effect of a change of air in removing from the
sea coast to a region beyond the Highlands:
. The politicians teach US how to treat dis
ease, I think. They do not try to conrsyt the
opposing party. They are content if they can
Keep At IH tie DIIHOTIty-sure that il will tire
In time, of Its want of power, change sides, or
disappear The patient who troubles himself
least about his disease. (or who leaves it entire
ly to his dOctOr.) but who perseveringly ont
rOf>S il by the high condition of the other parts
of his system, is the likeliest To recOver-and it
Is this hIgk condition alone, that / have any
thing to say. 0f twenty who may be sleepless
with a cough, and weakened with the raising of
tUp s,hi g..
cisely the same medical treatment, or diseased
In precisely the same lOcality-thOugh all
are called 'colsUmptives' Our friends the
physicians are bester geographers than we, as
tn where the healing is wanted-thOugh they
strangely cOnine themselves to the specific all
ment, taking IL FOR granted that the patient
keeps the rest Of his body in proper training
for recovery 1t is medical etiquette, 1 be-
Heye, to refrain from any very particular in
quiry into this. But few sick men are wise or
frm-minded enough to be safely trusted with
their own general condition; and /, for one,
came very near dying-nOt Of my disease, but
Of what my doctors took for granted
To leave generalities, however. and come
to the personal experience which you ask for
Il went to the Tropics, as a last hope to
cure chronic cough and bloOd-raising which
had brought me to the borders of the grave I
found climate in which it is hard to be un-
happy about anything-charming to live at all
easy TO die. (At least those who were sure
OF dying, aud did die-in whose inseparable
company thought i was-were social and Joy
Gus 10 the last The atmosphere Of that Eden
latitude however, is but pain-stilling opiate,
while the equator might be called kitchen
range for q SaTdandpalus and the Antilles are
but tables loaded with luxuries. The Carrib-
bean Sea is the kingdom of the present mo-
ment. Iae pas; AM the future are its Arctic
and Antarctic-unthOught Of. except by despe-
rate explorers. Hither are sent inyalids. with
weakened resolution, to make a pilgrimage
with PreSor: ption ard prudence, You may see
by the book L have just published, Health
Trip 10 the Trapics) with what complete for
geuuiness OF care or caution made one of an
Invalid company for months. Was anybody
going to shat me up in bedroom with such
nights out Of doors Was anybody going to be
dull and ajStinent with such merry people, and
table,
d reached boUe in July, thoroughly pros
trated and, IN the opinion of one or two physi-
clans hopeless ca,e. Coughing almost the
whole Of every night and raising blood as fast
as my system could make it. Ihad no rest and
no strength fingered through the summer
and, a the autumn came OH, and the winter
was 20 be faced. sat down and took a fair look
at tee probabilities With the details of this
troubled Council of war, l will not detain you;
but after an unhinching self-examnation,
eanIe u the conclusion that l was, myself the
caEeieSs and IndOient nCGtT2liZGT of The medi-
clnes which had failed 10 cure me-that one
wrong morsel of food. or one days partially
neglected exercise might pat back q weeks
heallng-and that, BY slight omissions Of at
tentlOn, occasional breaking OF regimen and
much too efsninate habits was untrue to
the trust which Gray, nv fr end and PHI ysician.
had made the ground Of his Prescriptions. And
10 minutely PeIseyering chInge in the COM
paratiye tribes, | owe, L believe. nv restora-
tiOn TO health. There was not a day OF the
succeeding winter. however cold or wet in
which L did not ride eight or ten miles ON
horseback. With FIVE or six men / was for
most OF the remaining hours Of the day, out Of
doors, laboring at the roa1s and clearings Of
my present home. The colt ige Of Idlewild
was then unbuilt, and the nsig ghboring farm
house, where We boarded was. Of course. indif-
feTently warmed; but, by suffering no state Of
the thermometer 10 interrupt the morning cold
bath, and the previous friction with the hesh-
brushes, which makes the water as agreeable
as In summer, Ssen became comparatively in
dependent Of the temperature tn doors as my
horse and axe made me independent of IL, when
Qua Of doors. With proper clothing to resist
cold or wet, L found Ito my surprise) that there
was no such thing disagreeable weather to
Be felt in the saddle; and when q drive in a
wagon or carriage would have intOlerably irri-
tsted my cough, l could be all day in the
woods with an axe, my lungs as quiet as O
childs.
With all this-and looking like the rud-
dlsst specimen Of health in the country round
about am still you will be comforted TO
hear troubled occasionally with my sleep rob-
Der Of cough; and, in Boston the other day
On breathing that essence of pepper and iccles
which they call their least wind, y was seized
with the old hemOrrhage of the lungs, and bled
myself weak again. But rallied Immediately
On returning 10 this Highland air, and am well
once mOre-as well, that is to say, as is consist
ent with desirable nervous susceptibility The
kiss Of the delicious south wind Of to-day NO
ysmber 3O) would be half lost upon the cheek
Of perfect health.
Il fear cannot sufficiently convey to you
my sense Of the Importance of q hOrss to an
invalid. In my well-weighed opinion, ten
miles day an the saddle would cure more des-
perate eases particularly of consumption than
all tie changes OF climate and all the medicine
IN the world. 1t is vigorous exercise without
fatigue. The peculiar motion efectually pre-
vents all irritation Of cold air to the lungs, on
the 'gIHtTi=st day The torpid liver and other