9. Homeopathy
"Take a little rum,
The less you take the better;
Mix it with the lakes
Of Wenner and of Wetter.
"Dip a spoonful out -
Mind you don't get groggy -
Pour it in the lake
Winnipisiogee.
"Stir the mixture well,
Lest it prove inferior;
Then, put half a drop
Into Lake Superior.
"Every other day,
Take a drop, in water;
You'll be better soon;
Or, at least, you ought to.
"1/1,000,000" -Anon.
Destner was served at the mansion of the Thorntons soon after the arrival of onr friends. All were eager to hear an account of the visit of the homeopathist. Mrs. Thornton had greatly demurred, when advised to send for him, having no confidence in the ground of his pretensions. She now asserted that it was beyond the power of memory to recall half the circumstances. At least, one hundred questions had been asked. If it were possible, the homeopathist was even more impertinent than Dr. Perry.
"Impertinent!" exclaimed Mr. Thornton; "Dr. Perry certainly would plead 'not guilty' to that .charge."
"Oh, no more than physicians, in general, I presume, but I should like to know what lady likes to be cross-questioned in that manner!"
"Why then send for a physician?" queried Charles.
"Charles Thornton, do you suppose that we are going to die for want of medical aid, rather than wound our delicacy by submitting to the presence of a physician?"
" No, madam," was her son's grave answer ; "the love of life is too strongly implanted in the human breast to admit of any result of that description. I marvel, however, that the ladies do not themselves become physicians. What say you, Adelaide ? I have always thought that you were intended for the medical order."
"You are aware, Charles, that several ladies are already pursuing a course of medical study. Were I in favorable circumstances, I would most assuredly join them. I have always perceived an impropriety in the attendance of male practitioners upon women."
Ella, who had been listening with close attention, suddenly asked, " Suppose, Adelaide, that you were actually ill, so that you could not cure yourself, would you consent to the attendance of a male physician?"
"Certainly, Ella, but I should regard him as a very disagreeable intruder in my sick chamber, and regret the necessity which compelled me to submit to his directions. I should consider the evil as inevitable, reflecting that the barbarous state of society obliged me to tolerate the indelicacy."
When Adelaide harangued, Mrs. Thornton always frowned. To divert his mother's attention from the yoimg lady's wisdom, Charles abruptly asked, "Ella, how should you like to be a lady physician?"
Ella blushed, hesitated, and, finally, answered,
"I hardly know. I think that ladies ought to have physicians of their own sex."
"Charles!" Mrs. Thornton almost screamed, "I do wish that you would not give Ella such ideas. When she leaves school, she will stay at home, like a young lady. To hear you, any one would think that we were too poor to support our daughters."
"Mamma," interposed Ella, very decidedly, "I will do something. If I am not a physician, it will be because the profession does not accord with my taste. But I know that many girls would like very much to investigate subjects connected with the medical art. I do not purpose to lead a life of inglorious ease. I may possibly be the pastor of a church."
The thunderbolt, averted from Adelaide, was now about to fall upon Ella. To turn it aside, Mr. Thornton, after one deprecatory glance at his wife, hastilysaid, " Come, Delia, tell me something about Dr. Liston's visit."
The yonng lady smiled. "Well, papa, he asked a great many questions, and recorded the answers as fast as I could give them."
"He must have a very poor memory."
"That does not follow, papa," replied Delia, respectfully ; "if his questions to each patient are so numerous, it would be almost impossible for him to remember every answer. He promised to send me some medicine, and a list of regulations, with which* I must strictly comply."
"Are you quite willing, Delia, to receive the visits of Dr. Liston? If you object, I will dismiss him."
"I prefer that he should come, papa. His care in tracing every symptom, and his great solicitude to leam the exact truth, could not fail to inspire mo with some degree of confidence in his skill."
A ring was now heard at the door bell. After the lapse of some minutes, Dora entered the diningroom, bringing a small package, directed to Miss Thornton. Delia took it, simply saying, " My medicine, I presume."
Dora's eyes were sparkling, and her cheeks glowing with pleasurable excitement.
"I hope, Dora," said Mrs. Thornton, with some asperity, " that you had a pleasant time. Were you looking up street, or down, or what were you doing?"
"Indeed, ma'am," answered the poor girl, with an appearance of great humility, but with a half-suppressed air of triumph, "I stopped only a second?"
" A second ! I should like to have you work for me, if your time were composed of seconds of that length. Who brought the medicine?"
" ' Twas the gentleman that takes care of the new doctor's horse, and carries round his little powders for him."
Dora now hastily commenced her retreat, without waiting for a rejoinder. The young people, with the sympathy of generous hearts, smiled kindly upon the emigrant girl, but Mrs. Thornton, who now began to anticipate that, at no very distant day, the "gentleman" of whom Dora had spoken, would probably ask her to quit service, and be mistress of a little home of her own, sat the impersonation of rage and disgust.
" Never mind, mamma," said Charles, with a quiet smile, "you have frequently said that Dora was the worst servant whom you had ever employed."
"Mamma," observed Ella, "wishes to retain Dora, for the same reason that prompted the petition of the man, who prayed that the life of his wicked king might be spared."
"What was that?"
"His successor might be still worse."
Mrs. Thornton was about commencing a tirade, upon the interesting topics of audacious children and incompetent domestics, when her eye suddenly fell upon Delia's package, causing her thoughts to flow into quite another channel.
" Open your papers, Delia," she commanded, with so Elizabethan an aspect, that the young lady trembled while she complied.
Unfastening the envelope, she first took out a printed paper, containing the regulations to which the physician had alluded. For a moment, she surveyed it with a look of horror.
"What is it, Delia?" cried the children, in a tone of alarm.
No answer.
"Have mercy, Delia," called Ella, "you look as if Medusa's eyes were before you, instead of that harmless piece of paper."
"I would about as lief be petrified as to obey these rules," replied Delia, who was rather Apician for a young lady ; " I am required to live like a hermit."
"Let us hear some of the rules."
"I must neither eat nor drink any thing of an acid nature. Limes, pickles, currants, and all similar articles are forbidden. I can not even refresh myself with a glass of lemonade during the approaching warm weather."
Charles could not refrain from glancing toward Adelaide, who was tightly compressing her lips, to prevent a smile.
"No lemonade!" exclaimed Ella, with a tragicomic air, "with all my heart do I commiserate you. Will not cream of tartar, which, in my opinion, is far preferable, be allowed by this rigid homeopathist?"
"I have told you," answered Delia, bitterly, "that no acid is permitted."
" Go, then, to the other extreme. An acid beverage is no more delicious than a saccharine. Take metheglin."
Delia's eye brightened, but, after a moment's pause, assuming an expression of great mystery, she said, "It is very singular that honey is also forbidden. If the acid would injure me, I should certainly think that the saccharine would be beneficial."
" It is not," remarked Adelaide, " that all the articles forbidden would by themselves be detrimental. But, as their properties are medicinal, they would either counteract the homeopathic medicines, or entirely neutralize their effects."
" Ah ! " said Delia, quietly, for she was reasonable enough to submit to any rule of which she knew the explanation. But, in the next breath, she groaned, " Coffee and green tea are forbidden. How am I to eat my breakfast ?"
"Drink milk and water, as I do," suggested little Carrie.
" I detest milk, as well as cocoa and weak black tea, which, wonderful as it may appear, I have the sanction of the homeopathist for drinking."
" In addition to those, is water the only allowable beverage?" inquired Charles.
"The preference is given to water," answered Delia, with a slight curl of her lip; "but I perceive that Dr. Liston tolerates several compounds which I know that I could not swallow. Among them are, rice water, plain panada, and sugared water."
"Now, Delia," said Adelaide, playfully, "sugared water was the favorite beverage of the unfortunate Marie Antoinette. If a queen could be satisfied with this simple preparation, surely you might condescend to give it a trial. Why demand any thing more flavorous ?"
"I am sure that I should not like so insipid a beverage, if a thousand queens had agreed in its commendation."
" You are then doomed to pure water, the natural drink of man," observed Charles; "if nothing had ever been substituted, from what a catalogue of diseases would the human race have been exempt !"
"Pray, Charles, don't moralize," entreated Delia; " it is highly probable that as early as the innocent days of our first parents, some addition was made to the tasteless beverage provided by nature. "When Eve is preparing for Raphael's visit, is water the only liquid procured ?
'For drink, the grape
She crushes, inoffensive must, and meaths
From many a berry, and from sweet kernels press'd
She tempers dulcet creams.' "
Charles shouted, " My dear sister, if Moses had given that information, I would have conceded to you the right of pleasing your palate by these foolish substitutes for pure water. But I give no more credence to Milton's account of the repasts of Eden, than to his description of the battles between the good angels and the bad, or to his curious declarations concerning the character of our first mother."
"Charles," denounced Mrs. Thornton, "you are very irreverent. The Bible speaks of ' the angels who sinned.' "
" I do not contradict the Bible, mamma, but I trust my own reason and imagination quite as much as Milton's. I believe that the Almighty expelled the sinning angels from heaven, by the immediate agency of His own power. I will not believe that He demanded the aid of His loyal subjects, and that He rendered heaven the scene of fierce contest and dire confusion. As for Eve, I appeal to all the young ladies present, whether their conception of her character corresponds to Milton's."
Delia was silent. Adelaide quoted, " ' God is thy law, thou mine," and commented, " no woman will respond to that sentiment. Eve knew that Adam was liable to sin, and that it could not, therefore, have been safe for her to regard as infallible, any mandates except those given to them both by the Creator."
"If," said Ella, eagerly, "Eve's character had been like that depicted by Milton, she never would have wished to leave his side, that she might spend the day in solitude. She would not have said, ' Let us divide our labors.' She would have preferred to toil with his assistance, and under his protection."
" Really," interrupted Mrs. Thornton, " here is a digression ! Strange that people who profess to have well-disciplined minds should wander so far from the subject of conversation !"
" My dear," pleaded Mr. Thornton, who was evidently quite entertained, " do allow the children to proceed. I like to hear them."
" Unless they can say something better than they have yet, I prefer that Delia should go on with those directions."
As the young colloquists were too modest to assert, that they had any thoughts more profound than those to which they had been giving utterance, they signified their wish that Dr. Liston's patient should further enlighten them on the topic of homeopathy.
" I must abstain from pastry," resumed Delia? her eyes resting sadly upon a pyramid of tarts, and the tone of her voice sufficiently indicating the extent of the sacrifice required.
Dora, who was now bringing in the second course, secretly hoped that the whole family would soon be placed under homeopathic treatment.
" Salted fish, ah, that is an article which I never eat."
Nearly all agreed that no self-denial was required in abstaining from this saline delicacy. Mrs. Thornton, however, declared that, in her girlhood, during the palmy days of New England, salted fish was the regular Saturday dinner, and that people were not half so sickly as at the present degenerate period.
Ella audibly rejoiced that "the palmy days of New England" were at an end. Mr. Thornton concurred, saying, "l am truly glad that so absurd a custom has fallen into disuse. I always hated that dinner, and I well remember obviating the necessity of eating much, by securing, in the course of the forenoon, a bountiful luncheon of something more palatable."
" Hard-boiled eggs are condemned. That caps the climax. I would as soon eat an egg in its crude state, as to have it merely plunged into boiling water."
Opinions with regard to eggs were now given ; in number, they exactly equaled that of the individuals.
" Would it be possible," inquired Charles, with the solemnity due to so important a question, "for an egg to be boiled quite right ?"
" It would not," returned Adelaide, with equal gravity; "even the renowned Yatel must have failed whenever he attempted this most onerous of domestic labors."
" Pork is forbidden."
" You will not, surely, regret that," observed Adelaide, " for it is regarded by all as one of tho most indigestible of substances."
" My antipathy to pork," remarked Charles, " is as great as that professed by the Jews, those most inveterate of swine-haters."
After a pause, Delia resumed, with a sigh, " I must eat neither figs nor raisins."
James echoed the sigh, as he took a luscious fig from a tray which had just been brought in with the dessert.
" Spices and condiments of all kinds are forbidden," lamented Delia, in tones which might be called heart-rendinsr.
" But, sister," said Charles, with the air of one soothing a person under the pressure of great affliction, "those can not be of much consequence."
" If you were as well acquainted with cooking as I am," retorted Delia, " you would know that food can not be suitably prepared without condiments."
The large, black eyes of Charles dilated, till they reminded Adelaide of unexplored coal mines. With a low bow, he said to his sister, " I acknowledge that I can not give the exact rule for the filling of a turkey, that I should be at a loss if asked to compound runnet pudding, that I should hesitate if required to superintend the mixing of plum cake, that I should bo alarmed if I were solicited even to make a batch of bread, but I do most assuredly believe that I am as well acquainted with the culinary art as yourself."
" Proceed, Delia," said Mrs. Thornton, with an acrid glance at Charles.
" Mineral waters are interdicted."
"That is unfortunate," observed Mr. Thornton; "I have been projecting a trip to Saratoga, believing that the waters would do you more good than the efforts of all the sons of ^Esculapius combined."
"Delia mused sorrowfully for a moment upon the pleasures of an excursion to the far-famed springs. Then looking at the directions, she said, with a smile, " Ardent spirits and tobacco are prohibited."
"That does not concern you," remarked Charles, laughing.
"I must abstain from eels, clams, oysters, lobsters - "
" I should like to know," ejaculated Mrs. Thornton, " what Dr. Liston will permit you to eat. I can think of nothing."
"There is not much, indeed, mamma. I may eat bread, made without soda, salaratus, etc., plain cake and pudding ; squash and potato ; beef, mutton, poultry, and venison. Not much more, I believe."
" Very low diet," said Mr. Thornton, shaking his head ; " I am afraid that the poor child will lose what little strength she now possesses."
" She will certainly die, without something more nourishing," angrily exclaimed Mrs. Thornton.
" What is better than beef-steak ?" pleaded Charles, for, in his own mind, he had been dwelling with admiration upon the beautiful simplicity which characterized the dietetic code of the homeopathist.
" But, Charles," remonstrated Delia, " homeopathy requires that beef-steak should be cooked without pepper."
"I think, that, even in that case, it might be quite edible."
Not deigning to reply, Delia continued, " Mutton is, of course, despicable ; this is not the season for poultry; venison is seldom brought into Clinton market."
"Delia, my dear," said Mr. Thornton, in a tone for which he deserved the surname of Barnabas, "your mother will, I dare say, carefully study these directions, and see that as many tempting dishes are prepared as are possible with so few ingredients. I will visit the book-stores, and bring home all the treatises on cooking that I can find. This is certainly not the season for poultry, but Charles shall go to Farmer Dean's, and order a regular supply. I will take care that the greater part of all the venison brought into the neighboring markets shall find its way to Clinton."
"Delia's eyes were suffused with tears, as she faintly replied, " You are very kind, papa."
Mrs. Thornton now took the paper, and, holding it as cautiously as if its contact might impart poison, said, "I never heard of any thing so absurd as these directions." After a cursory glance, she said, "How careless you are, Delia; you omitted one notice of great importance. You may eat fresh fruit, excepting those kinds which are decidedly acid."
" I like fruit."
All now hastened to congratulate Delia, declaring that fruit was the best food that could be obtained, and asserting that her doom was not half so dismal as they had, at first, imagined.
" I do believe," exclaimed Mrs. Thornton, suddenly, " that Dr. Liston is an idiot!"
This being rather a serious charge to be brought against a medical practitioner, all eagerly raised their eyes, to leam the cause of the accusation.
" All kinds of perfumery are to be avoided. Delia must not even approach odoriferous flowers."
"There, Delia," laughed Ella, "you must remove that bottle of cologne water, from your dressing-table."
James, with unusual alacrity, conveyed from the window-seat, a line musk plant, and a luxuriant tea-rose bush, which were perfuming the apartment.
After a short discussion, all agreed, that, if condiments would be at variance with Dr. Liston's medicines, odors, in their effects upon the system, might have a certain, although subtile influence, and that, homeopathically speaking, the apparently absurd direction was consistent and reasonable.
"I like that rule," concluded Charles, " as far as concentrated odors are implied. In church, I am sometimes almost faint in consequence of the gale of lavender and bergamot that rushes from Mrs. Stipend's pew into ours."
" Open the other paper, Delia," commanded Mrs. Thornton. Delia carefully unfolded a small paper, containing a diminutive white powder, apparently intended as a moderate dose for an infant Lilliputian. Laying it upon the table with great precaution, lest it should be wafted into the air, she took up a slip of paper, and read, with undisguised amazement: "Miss Thornton may dissolve this powder in a tumbler of water, and take a tablespoonful every morning till it is exhausted."
Not only the children, but also the adults, caused the room to resound with merry laughter. Mr. Thornton had not, for many years, manifested so much risibility. Mrs. Thornton's half-suppressed anger was exchanged for an alarming cachination. Charles had not been so thoroughly amused since the enlivening moment when Alfred Russell, a veiy ingenious orthographer, wrote Q as the initial letter of curiosity. Delia's countenance was so animated, that she looked as if she might safely dispense with medicine. Adelaide could not refrain from laughing in sympathy, but, as she was partially acquainted with the homeopathic system, the prescription had occasioned neither mirth nor surprise.
" Homeopathy must be a hoax," said Mr. Thornton, with great emphasis.
" The vile impostor!" exclaimed Mrs. Thornton; "he deserves to be driven from the town."
" Certainly," observed Charles, with an. effort at calmness ; " this appears like an imposition."
" Papa," said little Carrie, " that doctor would suit me. I hate medicine."
" Still," continued Charles, doubtfully, " we can not yet condemn the system. The remedies administered may be of great power. A very small quantity of arsenic will destroy life. Is it not probable that the homeopathists prepare their medicines so that the cpiintessence of the ingredients is preserved ?"
" I know, I understand how it is, said Mr. Thornton, suddenly erect with unwonted energy. " You remember, my love, the lecture that I attended last winter.
" Really, Mr. Thornton," frigidly replied his wife, " you went to hear lectures six evenings out of seven. You must be a little more explicit if you would have me recall any definite period."
A faint flush passed over the face of the rebuked husband. It soon vanished, and, in deliberate tones, he said, " The lecture was delivered in January, by a young man named Barnard. I forget the subject, but it had some connection with medicine. He said that the founder of homeopathy was a man of the name of - let me see - it began with II ; Adelaide, my dear, you know every thing ; what was it ?"
" It was Hahnemann, sir," answered Adelaide, hardly raising her eyes.
" Oh, yes. Well, this Hahnemann, a very shrewd man, was a firm believer in Mesmerism. But, through fear of the ridicule which would have been his lot, if he had professed his views, he practiced a very unjustifiable system of deception. He mesmerized his medicines, holding the theory that the greater number of times the hand passed over them, the more beneficial would be the effects produced. The smaller the doses, the greater the virtue."
By the aspect of the various members of Mr. Thornton's family, while they had been listening to this explanation, any one would have thought that they had been hearing some of the most direful passages of Scott's " Demonology and Witchcraft." Adelaide remained with her eyes downcast.
Mr. Thornton continued, "The lecturer, at his close, made the audience very merry, by saying that Hahnemann himself would have become a true Deinocritus, could he have foreseen that glass factories would be established for the express purpose of manufacturing his tiny vials, and that large numbers of respectable physicians would traverse the country, carrying cases of his little powders in their pockets. Whatever mode of practice ho professed to follow, Hahnemann was truly of the mesmeric order."
" I wish," regretted Charles, " that I had heard that lecture."
" I advised you to go, my son, but you said that you could only spare two evenings a week for lectures, and that you had resolved to spend the others in study."
" If I were incapable of reading, I should be a constant attendant of the lecture-room ; but, having the power of perusing the printed page, I prefer that ' eye-gate,' rather than ' ear-gate,' shall bo the chief avenue to my mind. Adelaide, you and I were reading Marmontel that evening. What do you think of my father's report?"
" I doubt the claims of the lecturer to confidence. Hahnemann probably employed Mesmerism among other remedial agents. He did believe in the efficacy of medicines, for he was so hazardous as to try many experiments upon himself. "When in health, he took medicinal substances as an adventurer, to learn their effects upon the system. He convinced himself that the true remedy for any disease would produce the same malady in a healthy person. This was his own view. I am not competent to decide upon its merits. The reason which I have learned for the small doses, has some shade of plausibility. The chemist and the advanced medical student must weigh its validity. Homeopathists believe that medicinal properties are lost by combination. They maintain that, for the advantage of friction, or some other effect, the drug used should be subjected to repeated divisions, that it may be given in, as nearly as possible, an atomic state."
The Thorntons, without speaking, looked alternately at each other and at Adelaide.
After conveying the condemned plants from the dining-room to the garden, James, who had not been very deeply interested in the discussion of homeopathy, strolled leisurely through the grounds in quest of amusement. Passing into the street, he espied a loose paper fluttering upon the door-step. Supposing it to be one of the numerous hand-bills which are now scattered in such profusion over the land, he proceeded to investigate its contents, laudably desirous of learning whether it announced the virtues of a patented medicament, the programme of a marvelous exhibition, or the prospectus of a new book. He soon perceived that it was covered with characters, which, to him, were as inscrutable as the Eleusinian mysteries to the uninitiated. So attractive, however, were the curiously arranged dots, straight lines, and curves, that he carried the paper into the house, earnestly soliciting an explanation.
"Why, Jamie," said Charles, "this must be a specimen of some system of stenography. But it is not Holdsworth's, and I am unacquainted with any other."
"It is phonography," asserted Adelaide, "the best system ever invented. The adept can write as rapidly as the speaker can pronounce."
" That writing, then," observed Mr. Thornton, " may contain notes of a sermon or lecture."
" Or it may be a theme," suggested Ella.
" Whatever it is," said Charles, with more decision than was needed, " I presume that we have a right to avail ourselves of its wisdom, especially as we are so fortunate as to have an interpreter. Had it been a secret paper, the owner would have been more prudent than to carry it through the street in his pocket. As no name is attached, it is, for the present, the property of the finder. By reading it, we can learn whether it is of consequence to the possessor. If it is a paper of importance, we can insert an advertisement in the ' Chronicle.' ' :
" You must have conscientious scruples with respect to the perusal, or you would not give so elaborate a defense," remarked his father, with a half smile.
Charles laughingly replied, "I firmly believe that it is my duty to learn the contents of that paper. I by no means consider it a question of casuistry."
All inspected the paper before Adelaide began the translation.
"It may be a conspiracy against the government," said Mr. Thornton.
" Equal to that of Catiline," subjoined Adelaide.
" It has a very wicked look," said Mrs. Thornton, almost dropping the paper from her hands.
" Allay your fears," said Adelaide, gayly, as she glanced at the paper; "I see nothing of dangerous import. It is apparently a sketch of character, intended for full delineation at the writer's leisure. No title is given.
(writing on paper)
TRANSLATION.
"Size of the bead, full. Temperament, a combination of the nervous and the lymphatic. The latter predominant. The former developed by circumstances. Much revealed by the organs of the head, more than by her answers. Perceptive faculties better developed than the reflective. Appearance of the head singular, from the unusual prominence of some organs, and the defective size of others. Combativeness wanting, hardly force enough to resist either disease or danger. Alimentiveness excessive for a young lady. Firmness, minus. Hope, ditto. Individuality, very prominent. Form, so prominent that the distance between the eyes is quite startling. A striking, but not a good head. Figure, too slender for health or beauty. No definite disease, but a general want of tone to the system. Pulse, weak; complexion, inclining to sallow ; manner of speaking, languid; expression of countenance, listless. Needs some incitement to mental and bodily action, rather than any course of medicine. So feeble, however, has the frame been rendered by bad habits, that some medicine is needed. Tendency to incipient disease must also be counteracted by the application of remedies. Tedious case in perspective. Delia Thornton, nineteen years, three months."
Tlie Thorntons had listened witli close attention. Notes of a phrenological lecture - abstract of a medical student's lesson - were among the first impressions. But, as the reading approached its termination, they suddenly started, exchanged glances one with another, and when Adelaide, after a momentary hesitation, read Delia's name and age, no one was surprised.
" The impudent man !" exclaimed Mrs. Thornton.
" Was that what Dr. Liston was writing?" asked Mr. Thornton.
" That must have been one of the papers," sobbed Delia. " He apparently made two accounts. After recording the answers which I gave him, he wrote in silence for some minutes. I noticed that the leaf was detached. It must have dropped from the book."
"Is Phrenology connected with homeopathy?" inquired Charles.
" No," replied Adelaide ; " but, being acquainted with Phrenology, Dr. Liston wisely applies it to his profession. By learning the mental organization of his patients, he can form a very good estimate of the class of diseases to which they are most liable."
"Delia," cried Ella, "do remove your handkerchief from your face, that we may see whether your eyes are really so far apart."
" A striking, but not a good head," cited Mr. Thornton, with anxiety.
" Figure too slender for health or beauty," repeated Mrs. Thornton, in wrathful accents. " If Dr. Liston were not a dunce, he would know that a slender figure is considered beautiful."
" That idea is now exploded, madam," answered Charles.
"The Venus de Medicis is represented with a large waist," observed Adelaide.
"Tedious case in perspective," muttered Mr. Thornton.
Meanwhile Delia's appearance was indicative of extreme distress. Her affliction probably resembled that of English girls when excluded from Almack's.
"Delia," expostulated her father, "that whole account is contemptible. I would not give it a moment's thought."
" Besides, Delia," added Charles, " people differ in their taste. Some would call you beautiful, especially if your countenance were irradiated by health and vivacity."
" I will not have him for my physician," declared Delia.
Charles smiled as he said, " Dr. Liston did not read your head aright. If you were devoid of combativeness, you would have neither the courage nor the desire to refuse his attendance. You would bear his strictures with meekness."
"I will never again see him," persisted Delia.
" Delia has some firmness," remarked Ella.
" If she had much," returned Charles, " she would abide by her first decision, and retain Dr. Liston, notwithstanding this little incident."
" Little !" repeated Delia, in a tone which reminded Adelaide of Hermia's utterance of the same word.
" What is your opinion, Adelaide ?" asked Charles.
" If all the physicians and phrenologists in the world had pronounced a verdict which I knew to be false, my equanimity would not be seriously disturbed."
Delia was silent. Perhaps she knew that Dr. Liston's description contained more truth than error.
" The man shall never again enter my house," said Mrs. Thornton, with dignity.
" We can not, then, test the value of homeopathy," observed Mr. Thornton.
"This would hardly deserve the name of a test," replied Charles. "Dr. Liston himself acknowledges that Delia is not actually ill. I regret, however, that we found the paper. The observance of those dietetic directions would probably have cured Delia. Would it not be well to overlook the circmnstance of the note-taking, and allow him to make a series of visits ? It will be hardly courteous to dismiss him because we found and read a paper containing his private opinion."
" Yes, Delia," said Ella, " those directions may be very beneficial. In Dr. Liston's view, your illness has been caused partly by too assiduous a cultivation of the organ of alimentiveness."
" Silence, Ella !" angrily demanded her mother.
" I have decided," repeated Delia, in a manner implying that it was her purpose to acquire a reputation for firmness.
""Well," said Charles, resignedly, "you would doubtless, soon violate those strict rules, and then Dr. Liston would voluntarily discontinue his visits. I heard yesterday that he had been attending Henry Richardson, a young man of twenty-three, for some serious malady. After weeks of great pain, convalescence slowly but surely began. The hungry patient entreated that the regulations might be slightly modified. The physician was inexorable, declaring Unit no deviation could be allowed. On his next visit, after looking at Henry a few minutes, he said, ' Sir, you have disobeyed me. What have you been eating V The poor young man stammered through an apology, confessing, that being unable to relish any of the articles permitted, he had eaten sparingly of veal cutlets, and that he really felt better for the indulgence. "Without a word, the homeopathist left the room, encountered the senior Kichardson upon the stairs, and quietly announced that he must procure another physician for his son."
" Dr. Liston shall not rule me," exclaimed Delia, with unusual energy.
" Physicians, by their profession," observed Adelaide, "have the right to command. We voluntarily surrender ourselves as their subjects. We can not, therefore, complain if they demand implicit obedience."
" Yes," said Ella, eagerly, " '■must is for the doctor as well as for the king ;' so Miss Sedgwick's Mary Bond told her brother."
After a pause, Mr. Thornton said, "We have, then, the disagreeable task of dismissing Dr. Liston," and he looked at Delia to see whether any sign of relenting appeared.
"Kemember, Delia," cautioned Charles, "that he is the only physician in the place, besides Dr. Perry."
"I have decided," replied Delia, with the firmness of a martyr preferring " the baptism of fire" to a renunciation of his faith.
Mr. Thornton bit his lip, and mused in silence. After a few moments of disquiet, he said, " Charles, I think that either } t ou or your mother would do better than myself."
Charles, shrinking from the office on his own account, and deeming it unadvisable that his mother should address the physician in her salamandrine style, replied. " In my opinion, sir, as Delia has a father, it would be more proper that the rejection should be given by him."
"You are right, my son," said Mr. Thornton, suddenly recollecting that he was the head of the family, " but I dread the interview."
"Write to him, sir," suggested Charles.
Half an hour afterward, as Dr. Liston was sitting in his study, preparing minimum doses of aconite, he received a note, inclosing the paper which he had lost, and containing the following words : " Dr. Liston is informed that the knowledge of phonography is not confined to himself, that it is very dangerous to have loose leaves in a private note-hook, and that he need give himself no further trouble with regard to the 'tedious case' of Miss Thornton."