The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-05-24

l the command Of the empress, and Stlll kneeling, he was permitted to place one
 hand upon the emperor's wrist. There
 was no feeling of the pulse, simply con-
 tact with the flat of the hand, first to
 one side of the wrist, and then on the
 other. This done, the empress contin-
 ued her narrative of the patients suf- ferings; she described the state of his
 tongue and the symptoms of alteration
 in the mouth and throat, but as it was not permissible for the doctor to exam inc these he was obliged to make the best of a somewhat unprofessional de- scription. As he wisely observed, it is difficult to look at a patients tongue when his exalted rank compels you to keep your eyes fixed rigidly on the floor
 The empress having concluded her re- | marks on the case, Chen was permitted
 to withdraw and to present to the grand council his diagnosis, together
 with advice as to future treatment,
 which was subsequently, communicat ted officially to the throne. The gist of his l advice was to prescribe certain tonics of the orthodox native type, and to sug- gest the greatest possible amount of mental and physical rest.
 In reply to my inquiries as to the em- | peror's diet Chen observed that it would, of course, be highly beneficial were he given moderate amount of meat food; this, however, he could not have suggested, since it was contrary | to the Confucian doctrine. He had been given to understand by one of the court officials that the emperor's daily fare consisted almost entirely of rice, seasoned with the usual condiments, but there was no way in which he could have obtained reliable information on this point and any direct inquiries dur ing the audience were naturally out of the question. Certain of the patients symptoms were such as to preclude the administration of the tonic most usual- ly prescribed for anaemic subjects-a decoction of ginseng.
 Summing up the results of his audi ence, Chen observed that under the con- ditions attendant on prescribing for Chinese emperor one doctor was just as good as another, and that the fate of the patient must necessarily be a matter entirely in the hands of Provi- dence. He thought that the emperor was receiving all possible care and at-
  itations imposed by court etiquette might otherwise assist in the restora- ton of his health
 A few days after the first consulta~ tion-if the word can be used in such case-Chen was again summoned to au- dience. He observed a marked reduc- ton of temperature, but the patient was even more listless than on the pre- E;,,,,, nu,n hA tou fe-t ed of monologue, as before, the dow ager empress being apparently very anxious to prevent the invalid from speaking On the following day Chen ret eived a present of two hand some riding jackets, a mark of imperial fa- vor which did not prevent him, how ever, from sending in a petition to the grand council, in which he stated that l his aged mother was ill, and aske' that | he might be released from fuf,ner at- tendance at court, and permitted to re- turn home and discharge the oDliga- ] tions If filial piety. Tn's petition ap- | narSntly aroused certain su plcions in | the lnind of the sovereign, or of the au- gust woman, who guards the throne Ui c excuse being, indee1, meNhat the grand council to ascertain if the facts were as stated. Chen was, fortu nately, able to demonstrate to all con- cerned Cat a cost of some eighteen thou sand taels) that his mother was in ex- istence and in bad health, and the coun- cl having memorialized to this effect, second rescript permitted him to return to his home Accordingly, he left the capital with all convenient rapidty, poorer, perhaps. in purse, but richer in wisdom by virtue of a unique experi- ence The three other native doctors remained in attendance.
 I may add that the mother of Chen Lien Fang is actually in existence, and that his flial devotion was not purely Shanghai Correspondent of the London Times.