The Rock Island Argus., 1885-06-06
DIR. SELSAM'S CURE.
(Concluded.)

worthy Aunt Wunderlich. This idea never |
left me throughout the following day |
asked myself the question audibly, and the |
passers-by in the street turned back to gaze |
at me, so apparent was my agitation.
And in the evening, when dining tete.a-tete |
with my aunt, could not help gazing upon |
her with an eye of compassion. "Alasl"
thought I, "what would you say, poor An
nah Wunderlich, were you aware that mill
lions of ferocious microscopic beasts are bent
upon your destruction, while you are tran"
quilly drinking cup of teaP
"Why do you look at me so strangely, |
TheodoreP she suddenly asked, nervousiy.
"Oh for no reason-none at ALL" ] stam-
mered.
"Yes, see that you think me i'll to-day. |
look i'll, do not%
81 cannot deny it. You are very pale |
l will wager that you have received some
new music"
"You are right Ireceived yesterday the
opera of The Great Darius sublime
work, al
"I was certain of it. You have passed the
night at the piano, enraptured"
She became crimson. "What am / to
understand by that sirl Have l no longer
the rightf-
Certainly. have said nothing to the
contrary. But it is ridiculousl You are
ruining your nervous system You
NERVOUS system' You are demented.
You do not know what you are talking
about"
"For heaven sake, be calm, aunt Anger
excites electricity, which produces, in its
turn, insects by the millions"
"lnsectsl" she cried, springing from her
Al
insects upon my personl Wretch, how dare
you? Insectsl Louise! Katell show
monsieur the door"
"But, aunt"
"Go Col disinherit youl"
She shrieked she suffered, her cap fell
off-altogether it was frightful.
"Come, comen | exclaimed, rising from
my seat, do not let us quarrel. The deuce
take it, aunt, | was not referring to such
insects as you supposed. l was speaking of
the milleped. the coleopteran, the parasite
in short, to the innumerable multitude of
little monsters who are lodged in your body,
and are gnawing into it,"
At these words Aunt Wunderlich fell
back upon the sofa with arms extended,
head fallen forward on her bosom, and her
face 50 pale that the rouge on her cheeks
looked like blood-stain.
With a single bound l reach Selsam's
hotel. Arriving there was as white as
corpse.
my friend,' 1 exclaimed breathlessly,
"the crisis is reachedr'
There l stopped transflxed with astonish-
ment. A large company had assembled un-
der Selsam's roof The was NJ, the Conserv-
ator, of the Archaeological Museum, Daniel
Bremen, wearing a powdered wig and ma
room coat; his face was round, his eyes level
with his forehead, like frogs; he held at
his mouth gigantic bag pipe, in the use of
which he seemed to be inStructing the
others. There was also present NJ. the Pre-
csntor Christian Hoffer, with an opera hat,
seated in an armchair, with his long
legs lost to sight under the table. His
long, bony fingers were playing with the keys
Of another strange-looking instrument
formed like tube So absorbed was he in the
examination Of this that he did not even raise
his eyes as l entered the room. NM. Kas-
rer Marbach Ia director of St GATHERINGS
hospital and Rebstock dean OF the faculty
of Bellies Lettres), each 'attired in black with
white neckties, were also of the company,
the one armed with an immense bronze
plate, the other fenced in by a species of
kettle-drum
These grave personages, seated around the
candelabra, some with inflated cheeks,
others with drum-sticks raised in the air,
all with serious faces, impressed me as so
grotesque that stood transfixed, like one in
a dream. Selsam, without arising gravely
assigned me chair and NJ the Conserv-
ator of the Museum continued his explana'
tionS.
"This, gentlemen" said he, dis the famous
buscatibia of the Swiss; its power of Gound is
tremendous; it can prolong an echo until it
resounds above the breaking of the billows.
If NJ. the Counselor Theodore wishes to try
it, doubt not he can draw from it magnif
cent sounds"
He handed me the pipes, with an air of
solemnity, and then addressing himself to
NJ. Kasper Marbach:
"Your drum, sir is the most admirable OF
its kind; it is the karabo of the Egyptians
and Abyssinians. The jugglers have re-
course to it to make serpents and bayaderes
dance"
"And thoseT inquired Marbach, waving
alternately to his right and left hand.
''Fine all fins You can not fail to sue
ceed"
"And as for the NJ the Dean, he has but
to give blow from time to time on his
plate, the famous tam-tam, the lugubrious
sounds of which resemble the knell of the
great bell of our cathedral. The effect, un-
any circumstances, would be grand but in
the silence of a night it will be superb"
"Do you understand everything, gentle
men?"
Perfectly
"Very well, we can 60"
"One moment" said the doctor at will
l.o 10 oI,yioo % Io
termination" Then addressing himself to
me:
"My dear friend, the case of your worthy
aunt demanded powerful remedy. After
giving the matter careful deliberation, a
brilliant idea enlightened me. Whet is her
troubled Nervous prostration-debility re-
sulting from the abuse Of music. Good
What action does such case demand9 The
most radical is to combine in the same
treatment the principle of Hippocrates-
Contraria contrariis curantur-and that OF
our immortal Hahnemann-Similia simili-
bus curantur. What is there more unlike
the insipid and sentimental music of our
opera than the wild, fantastic music of the
Hebrews, the Caribs, and the Abyssiniansl
Nothing. So borrow their instruments, !
execute an air of the Hottentots in the pres
ence OF your respected aunt, and the princi-
pie contrario contrariis is satisfied. On the
other hand, what more closely resembles
music than musicl Nothing. Hence the
principle similia similibus is also satisfied. y
The idea appeared to me sublime.
1Selsam," exclaimed" "you are genus
Hippocrates has established the thesis and
Hahnemann the antithesis of medicine; but
you have just created the synthesis. 1t is a
,-ondorf,,l disoouarv ~