1 ^Library of Congress. 1 
 
 <s>: * gg 
 
 k 
 
 & 
 
 
 Chap,.- 
 Shelf... JL$S). 
 
 *BAM 
 
 <*: 
 
 — p. 
 
 ^UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. $3*1! 
 
 "^■^ 9—167 - §lii£ 
 
1^ 
 
 W9W> BCCHANqs, 
 
GOING SOUTH 
 
 FOB 
 
 THE WINTER 
 
 WITH 
 
 HINTS FOR CONSUMPTIVES. 
 
 ROBERT F. SPEIR, M. D. 
 
 if 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 ifze^izsttieid foe the author 
 By Edward 0. Jenkins, 20 North William Street. 
 
 1870. 
 V- - 
 

 51274 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, hy 
 
 Bobert F. Speir, M. D., 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
 Eastern District of New York. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface, - - - - - - . - -5 
 
 Pulmonary Consumption, - 9 
 
 Who Suffer Most, 10 
 
 Primary Cause of Pulmonary Phthisis, - - 12 
 
 Atmospheric Vicissitudes, - - - - 17 
 
 Climatic Influences, ----- 25 
 
 Going Off, 33 
 
 How to Go, --,---- 34. 
 
 Savannah, Georgia, - - - - - "35 
 
 The Other Route, - - - - - 37 
 
 Charleston, - - - - - - "38 
 
 Jacksonville, - -.- - - - - 41 
 
 Mandarin, .__---- 4.5 
 
 Magnolia, >,.--' - - 45 
 
 Hibernia, - - - - - - - -46 
 
 Green Cove Spring, ..... 47 
 
 Pilatka, - - <Jl 
 
Contents. 
 
 St. Augustine, Florida, 
 
 Enterprise, 
 
 Lake Harney, 
 
 Aiken, South Carolina, 
 
 South of France, 
 
 Diet, 
 
 Exercise 
 
 Stimulants, 
 
 Sea-Bathing, 
 
 Conclusion, 
 
 53 
 64 
 
 69 
 
 7° 
 80 
 
 83 
 
 9 1 
 98 
 
 101 
 
 1-03 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 Very few physicians have had the time or 
 opportunity to inform themselves of the advan- 
 tages of climatic influences in the treatment of 
 phthisis pulmonalis by personal observation 
 in the South. And notwithstanding the fact 
 that the physician has the interest of his pa- 
 tient ever so much at heart, and does his duty 
 conscientiously, never having seen the coun- 
 try, it is difficult to designate any particular 
 locality "down South" as the best suited for 
 his consumptive patient. 
 
 From the general confusion and diversity of 
 opinion existing in the minds of so many per- 
 sons with defective breathing apparatus, who 
 so anxiously seek advice about wintering in the 
 South, and partly by persuasion, and for the 
 i 
 
6 Preface, 
 
 information of those who cannot spare the time 
 to investigate for themselves, I have after a late 
 extended experimental tour, and careful obser- 
 vation while wintering in the South, with a 
 view to ascertain the medicinal qualities, hu- 
 midity, density and dryness of the air, pre- 
 pared this little hand-book as my contribution 
 to the general fund of information most to be 
 desired, and so little known by the thousands 
 of consumptives who are ignorant of every- 
 thing but the terrible truth that they must do 
 something. 
 
 In this little treatise the writer would desire 
 not to be misunderstood as offering any direct 
 advice to his readers, but only in as few words 
 as possible, simply present a condition of things 
 which he does not remember ever to have seen 
 presented for the consideration of those north- 
 ern consumptives who are " going South for 
 the winter." 
 
 The writer would hope to present the facts 
 
Preface. 7 
 
 only (having no interest in hotels, or orange- 
 groves and land speculations), so that his read- 
 ers can judge of their destination understand- 
 ingly for themselves. 
 
 A small part of these " notes " from the wri- 
 ter, first appeared in the Medical and Surgical 
 
 Reporter. 
 
 ROBERT F. SPEIR, M. D. 
 
 Montague Place, 
 Brooklyn Heights, N. Y., 1870. 
 
oinjj louih for the llinter. 
 
 PULMONARY CONSUMPTION. 
 
 Pulmonary consumption is a disease com- 
 mon to the whole human race, and apparently 
 to animals as well. This dreaded disease may 
 prevail in the high lands, where the air is dry ; 
 and in the low lands, where the air is moist. 
 It is not contagious, and cannot be transferred 
 from man to man. The disease is known to 
 lie latent for a long period, while there are 
 no declared symptoms of its existence till it 
 breaks out with a suddenness that is startling. 
 
 The mortality from pulmonary consumption 
 is frightful, and it is not surprising that the 
 disease should be thus mortal, when the treat- 
 ment pursued is everything but what it should 
 be. But the fact is now fully recognized, and 
 
10 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 there is no longer a doubt or want of proof 
 that the progress of the disease may be per- 
 manently arrested, and life once more made 
 bearable by the happy results of good treat- 
 ment ; but, because there are not a few cases of 
 pulmomary consumption where the tubercles 
 heal up, leaving a cicatrix, just as an external 
 wound, it must not, however, be supposed the 
 disease will yield without the most persistent 
 effort to keep it under control. Neither should 
 the consumptive invalid be too hopeful, for at 
 any time a little imprudence, exposure or over- 
 exertion, may renew the trouble, defy all treat- 
 ment, and rapidly prove fatal. 
 
 WHO SUFFER MOST. 
 
 Visit where you may the winter resorts of 
 consumptive invalids, and you will have ample 
 evidence to establish the proof that, it is our 
 young men and women, the life and hope of 
 the country, who suffer most severely from 
 attacks of this terrible disease. If this dis- 
 tressing statement so often reiterated, be true 
 
Going South for the Winter. 
 
 ii 
 
 is it not a matter of such consequence as to 
 demand particular attention ? Yet we come 
 in contact daily with persons presenting every 
 symptom of serious lung disease, who will not 
 even . make an effort, or attempt to avert the 
 danger of phthisis. And strange as it may 
 seem, there are people who will not take as 
 a warning the sad picture of the once bloom- 
 ing girl, lately so happy and joyous, now fad- 
 ing from an attack of consumption ; threaten- 
 ing to drag her— perhaps the only hope and 
 pride of her unhappy parents, and the joy of 
 her friends and admirers — to an early grave. 
 
 We daily meet with people who are so blind 
 as not to see in the flushed cheek, emaciation 
 and teasing cough of their young friend, the 
 life of all his associates, a cause for fearful ap- 
 prehensions. And it is often useless to advise 
 such deluded people, for so flattering and in- 
 sidious is the character of pulmonary disease, 
 that your anxious warnings may be received 
 without attention. 
 
 Of the thousands of consumptives " going 
 South " for the winter, many have only reached 
 
12 Going South for the Winter, 
 
 maturity, to find instead of the strength and 
 vitality natural to manhood, only sufficient 
 cause to repent a broken-down constitution, 
 a burden to themselves and their friends. 
 
 PRIMARY CAUSE OF PULMONARY PHTHISIS. 
 
 Of all the transparent acts of folly a parent 
 can be guilty of, there is none so inexcusable 
 as that self-delusion and willful pride which 
 induces the parent or guardian to put upon a 
 child the most unreasonable and trying men- 
 tal exercises, while perfectly regardless of the 
 physical development. 
 
 Can any or all of the so-called accomplish- 
 ments and empty honors, compensate for the 
 shattered nervous system, dyspepsia, ruined 
 eye -sight and destructive development of 
 brain, at the risk of making the child prema- 
 turely old and physically ruined. 
 
 Witness those darlings who astonish us by 
 their early performances. Did it ever occur 
 to you that the bright little girl, with her 
 palid cheek, and those ^lustrous large eyes, 
 
Going South for the Winter. J 3 
 
 who is complimented by foolish friends to 
 please the vanity of the parent, is sure to be- 
 come another sacrifice. The little six-year-old 
 is admired and caressed for his astonishing 
 precocity, encouraged and flattered while the 
 little fellow works away, growing paler and 
 thinner, and finally the bright and beautiful 
 boy has a cough, and is soon laid in his silent 
 grave, beside hundreds of little victims of pa- 
 rental ambition. It must be clear to every 
 mind that many of those little curly-headed 
 prattlers, whose innocent voices are hushed in 
 their untimely graves, might have been saved. 
 It surely is not prudent or wise to overtax the 
 powers of the young child, or generous to 
 push him beyond his years. Why not let him 
 live in the enjoyment of a life nature marked 
 out for him. 
 
 It is enough to drive one mad to see the lit- 
 tle creatures returning home from school with 
 an armful of books and pages to ponder over, 
 which would puzzle a strong man to wade 
 through. 
 
 We hear of school commissions and the pro- 
 
 2 
 
l 4 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 motion of teachers who secure their elevation 
 by the prompt manner in which the children 
 of their department are " put through" with 
 their studies, while the children are really so 
 confined at school that every mouthful of air 
 respired is loaded with the poison from the 
 lungs of another. Is it any wonder that these 
 children — those who live to reach maturity — 
 discover too late the ravages of confirmed 
 pulmonary consumption ? Among all the 
 short-sightedness which regard the education 
 of the youth, this insane effort to over-stimu- 
 late the child in mental tasks is the source of 
 the greatest mischief to defective lungs ; and 
 if you would know the result of this criminal 
 cramming of weakly children, go count the 
 little mounds in your cemetery. It is beauti- 
 fully said, we go out of the world by the same 
 changes almost as those by which we enter it. 
 We begin as children— as children we leave 
 off. We return at last to the same weak and 
 helpless condition as our first. We must have 
 people to lift us, to carry us, to provide nourish- 
 ment and even to feed us. We again have 
 
Going South for the Winter. T 5 
 
 need of parents ; and how wise the provision. 
 We find them again in our children, who now 
 take delight in repaying a part of that kind- 
 ness which Ave showed them. Children now 
 step, in, as it were, into the place of parents. 
 While our weakness transposes us into the 
 place of children, why, then, annihilate the 
 children ? 
 
 Another exciting cause of pulmonary dis- 
 ease is the destructive perpetual motion, pro- 
 longed irritation and artificial life so charac- 
 teristic of our irrepressible American people, 
 particularly the young. When our people 
 will persist in despising the dictates of nature 
 and indulge in excesses that must develop dis- 
 ease, while keeping up a continual ruinous, 
 physical and mental activity, giving brain and 
 muscle no time for rest, driving ahead like a 
 drove of sheep, how can such people expect to 
 escape diseases of the vital organs ? Every 
 well-informed person knows that these nerv- 
 ous, excitable, fidgety, fussy, bustling, awfully- 
 emcient, restless spirits, with not a moment for 
 reflection or repose, and without exercising 
 
J 6 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 the slightest deliberation or discrimination in 
 eating, must hereafter suffer for such impru- 
 dence. Another active cause of consumption 
 (among females) is undue lactation. Few moth- 
 ers have the constitutional vigor required 
 to nurse the infant an unusual number of 
 months. Many cases of lung trouble derive 
 their origin from reckless exposure at late 
 hours of the night without suitable clothing, 
 especially under-wear, to protect the body 
 from chill when over-warm and cooling rap- 
 idly, arresting the functions of the skin,, and 
 forcing upon the circulation the work for the 
 pores of the skin. No reasonable man will 
 follow the popular notion that one becomes 
 hardy by exposure to cold. Those children 
 are fortunate, indeed, whose guardians do not 
 strip their little legs of every covering in their 
 earliest childhood, laying the foundation for 
 pulmonary trouble. 
 
Going South for the Winter, l 7 
 
 ATMOSPHERIC VICISSITUDES. 
 
 Consumptive people are especially alive to 
 the fact that the kind of air they breathe has 
 a more or less exciting and controlling influ- 
 ence over the frequency and depth of their 
 respiration. 
 
 In breathing the foul air escaped from de- 
 cayed compounds of garbage of the streets, 
 or the confined air, pulverized dust and ema- 
 nations from the body, floated in the atmos- 
 phere of lecture-rooms or a crowded ball- 
 room, with its hundreds of maddened, flying, 
 human beings, the consumptive suffers imme- 
 diately from a decided clogging of the respir- 
 atory apparatus. The respiration becomes 
 labored, the difficulty increasing till there is 
 complete aeration of the blood by a fresh sup- 
 ply of oxygen. Again, if the air contained 
 more than the natural proportion of oxygen, 
 we could not breathe it ; its stimulating effect 
 upon the respiratory movements are such as 
 to endanger life. 
 
 The air of the atmosphere is productive of 
 
J 8 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 such a variety of effects upon the condition of 
 the consumptive invalid, that it cannot be 
 overlooked in the treatment of phthisis. Ask 
 a schoolboy to define atmosphere, and he will 
 tell you that it is a thin, transparent, invisible 
 fluid which surrounds us, and reaches above 
 us about forty miles. He will tell you that 
 atmospheric air. is known to be composed of, 
 at least, two kinds of air — the one called 
 oxygen, the other nitrogen gas. 
 
 Oxygen gas is our great agent in respiration, 
 while the purity of the air we breathe must 
 depend upon the proportion of oxygen in the 
 atmosphere — the proper proportion of these 
 two parts of the air being, as supposed, about 
 twenty-six parts oxygen and seventy-three of 
 nitrogen, with the small quantity of hydrogen 
 and carbonic acid gas. With a view to ascer- 
 tain the medicinal qualities of the air, many 
 inferences from speculations and experiments 
 have been made, but without any very satis^ 
 factory results. We have instruments for 
 measuring and testing the air, but not much 
 has been done of practical value to the con-. 
 
Going South for the Winter. l 9 
 
 sumptive. But we have a daily accumulation 
 of unmistakable evidence, that for the con- 
 sumptive to visit public places of amusement 
 and ball-rooms, and breathe such an irritating 
 atmosphere, as for hours they must do, is 
 surely to peril life, by exhausting what little 
 vitality remains, sending them to their lodg- 
 ings with increased respirations, pale face and 
 flushing of the cheeks, to pass a restless night, 
 accompanied with incessant coughing and 
 sweating, till overcome by complete prostra- 
 tion. We are told that in two hours one hun- 
 dred persons will render unfit for respiration 
 one thousand feet of cubic air of a lecture- 
 hall, and that each gas jet produces as much 
 poisonous air as four persons. 
 
 Professor Ganot, in his experiments, assures 
 us of what amount of pressure we bear from 
 the atmosphere. He says : " Considering the 
 surface of a man of fair size to be about twelve 
 square feet, the weight which the man sup- 
 ports on the surface of his body is upwards of 
 eleven tons. Such an enormous pressure 
 might seem impossible to be borne ; but it 
 
20 Going South for the Winter, 
 
 must be remembered that in all directions 
 there are equal and contrary pressure which 
 counterbalance one another. It might be sup- 
 posed," he says, " that the effect of this force 
 of air, acting in all directions, would be to 
 press the body together and crush it ; but the 
 solid parts of the skeleton could resist a far 
 higher pressure ; and as the air and liquids 
 contained in the organs and vessels, the air 
 having the same density as the external air, 
 cannot be further compressed by atmospheric 
 air." 
 
 The pressure from within is easily seen by 
 the distension of the surface when the exter- 
 nal pressure is removed from any part of the 
 body by the air-pump. Now, as we are able, 
 to a certain degree, to determine the physical 
 and medicinal qualities of the air, we can form 
 a pretty clear judgment of the dryness, hu- 
 midity and effects of air on the condition of 
 the consumptive. 
 
 Every intelligent person knows how thor- 
 oughly vegetable and animal poisons impreg- 
 nate the air ; and it is just as well known that 
 
Going South for the Winter. 2I 
 
 certain localities are noted for the frequency 
 of fevers ; another as the certain source o f 
 diarrheal diseases ; another as fostering and 
 encouraging disease of the throat and lungs, 
 with- asthmatic difficulty; another region is, 
 perhaps, prominent for endemic and epidemic 
 visitations, all conveyed " on the wings of the 
 wind." Much of the wide-spread diseases of 
 the chest is to be directly traced to the poison 
 in the air. 
 
 It is considered that the air of the higher 
 situation is more pure than that of the lower 
 country ; but Hufeland says, " the greatest 
 degree of height, the glaciers, is prejudicial 
 to health, and Switzerland, the highest land 
 in Europe, has produced fewer instances of 
 longevity than Scotland." 
 
 The only explanation we have for this is, 
 that the atmosphere is too dry, ethereal and 
 pure, and therefore consumes more quickly, 
 which is unfavorable to duration of life. 
 
 Uniformity in the condition of the atmos- 
 phere, particularly in regard to heat and cold, 
 is what we most desire for the consumptive, 
 3 
 
22 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 who should avoid, if possible, localities where 
 great and sudden variations of barometer and 
 thermometer are usual. While all extremes, 
 either too much or too little, too high or too 
 low, are necessarily dangerous for persons 
 with weak lungs. 
 
 A situation subject to a continual mixture 
 of heat and cold, where one experiences often 
 in the course of the day March and July 
 weather, is dangerous to pulmonary patients. 
 To consumptives, a very high degree of dry- 
 ness of the air, as well as too great moisture, 
 are alike unfavorable. It is said moist air, 
 being already saturated, has less attractive 
 power over bodies — that it consumes them 
 less. We know that in a moist atmosphere 
 there is always more uniformity of tempera- 
 ture, and an atmosphere somewhat moist is 
 supposed to keep the organs longer pliable ; 
 whereas that which is too dry brings on much 
 sooner aridity of the vessels, and all the cha- 
 racteristics of old age. Hufeland says, "In 
 islands mankind always become older than in 
 continents tying under the same latitude ; that 
 
Going South for the Winter. 2 3 
 
 men live longer in the islands of the Archi- 
 pelago than in the neighboring countries of 
 Asia, in Cyprus than in Syria, in Japan than 
 China, and in England than Germany." 
 
 The consumptive can have no vitality or 
 healthy circulation of the blood without the 
 lungs, heart, brain and stomach perform their 
 work with energy. Cramming with nourish- 
 ment, without complete oxygenation of the 
 blood, will not accomplish the work. 
 
 The consumptive must be surrounded with, 
 and breathe in a pure atmosphere ; but the 
 habit of exposing oneself to a draught or 
 stream of cold air is not to be indulged. All 
 the refreshing, restorative and invigorating 
 influences of the air can be had without 
 the careless exposure and letting down of the 
 sash of every window in the apartment, mak- 
 ing the admission of fresh air almost fatal to 
 the pulmonary invalid. 
 
 The offensive and dangerous air of a close 
 room, so destructive to the rapid improve- 
 ment of the consumptive can find its escape 
 by other and better outlets. The open fire- 
 
2 4 Going South for the Wivter. 
 
 place, and the improved ventilator, which 
 should be attached to every sick-room, and 
 which no house can be complete without. 
 
 It is a lamentable fact that so many friends, 
 having the care of the sick, do not at all ap- 
 preciate the advantages of a well-ventilated 
 sick-room, with all the appliances and con-, 
 veniences that science, kindness and common 
 sense would dictate. Such an apartment 
 should be complete in all the appurtenances 
 of a luxurious sick-room. When not required 
 for an invalid; the rooms could always be 
 used as the much-needed apartment for steal- 
 ing a little quiet forgetfulness and plenteous 
 repose, at a time when, in every other room 
 in the house, one cannot sleep without being 
 liable to be disturbed, just when to be dis- 
 turbed is to make one furious. 
 
 Many persons have a confused notion of 
 how much fresh air is required to fill a sick- 
 room, as well as how to provide an escape for 
 the noxious gases. An open window is not 
 always a safe method of ventilation. The 
 vicious, confined air of a sick-room is always 
 
Going South for the Winter. 2 5 
 
 ascending to the ceiling, and there coming in 
 contact with the cool wall is condensed, be- 
 comes heavier, and falls along the side of the 
 wall to the floor, where it should find its proper 
 escape at an open fire-place, and not at the 
 window. 
 
 CLIMATIC INFLUENCES. 
 
 While there is no longer a doubt or want 
 of proof of a successful treatment of phthisis 
 pulmonalis, there is a doubt of the climatic 
 influences, all things considered, best suited 
 to phthisis cases ; and as there is no disease 
 so certainly anticipated and influenced by cli- 
 matic changes, the question becomes one of 
 the utmost importance for the consideration 
 of the consumptive. If life is to be shortened 
 by remaining North in the winter, or health 
 secured and life prolonged by " going South 
 for the winter," then, of course, there can be 
 no choice for the consumptive. When we 
 know that as many as twenty thousand north- 
 
26 Goincf South for the Winter. 
 
 ern pulmonary invalids passed through Rich- 
 mond, Charleston and Savannah on their way 
 South during every winter since the late " un- 
 pleasantness," it will be seen that it is an im- 
 portant question, whether these thousands who 
 endure all the discomforts and privations inci- 
 dent thereto realize the improvement so anx- 
 iously sought, or can the expenditure of money, 
 time, patience and strength be saved with a 
 prospect of renewal of health without " going 
 South for the winter." It is certainly the most 
 refined cruelty to send the poor consumptives 
 so far from home and friends, hurried off in 
 an apparently helpless condition, unless fully 
 informed of their destination and discomforts 
 awaiting them. It is a sad state that in which 
 you find many unfortunate northern consump- 
 tives in the South during the winter months. 
 Too many are ordered or advised to go " down 
 South " often without the slightest intelligent 
 preparation, without the most simple but ne- 
 cessary comforts provided, totally uninformed 
 of where they are to go or how to get there. 
 Some there are who go South in the winter 
 
Going South for the Winter. 2 7 
 
 for amusement, leaving" home in perfect health, 
 and who readily find everything " couleur de 
 rose," securing so-called comforts and accom- 
 modations which, to our poor, suffering inva- 
 lid Avould simply be outrageous and danger- 
 ous trifling. Consumptive invalids need com- 
 forts, attention, sympathy and encouragement, 
 and cannot be expected to join with the hearty 
 travellers in the pell-mell rush for steamboat, 
 stage, state-room, hotel register and sleeping- 
 car. Many consumptives who reach Florida 
 alive are often in a most painfully distressing 
 state — low spirited, far away from home, dis- 
 couraged and among strangers, their suffer- 
 ings cannot well be imagined. Sent from 
 home on a forlorn hope, too many of these 
 poor wandering people only reach their desti- 
 nation and die. 
 
 Wintering in the South, particularly Eastern 
 Florida, which is so often alluded to for the 
 supposed curative influence of the atmosphere, 
 is attended with some difficulties and priva- 
 tions which it is well for the consumptive to 
 consider before going South. All considera- 
 
2 8 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 tions of climate must be comparative. The 
 alternations of heat and cold cannot, even in 
 Florida, be relied upon entirely. The climate, 
 generally so delicious in winter, will, at times, 
 conduct itself like a wayward child, while the 
 incapacity of the hotel-keepers, want of atten- 
 tion to guests, and manner of preparing food, 
 which is often perfectly innutritions and but 
 poorly cooked, so different from what the con- 
 sumptive is accustomed to at home, that he 
 early loses all relish for anything placed be- 
 fore him, and the consequence is the body is 
 never well nourished. 
 
 It would, therefore, prove a weak and foolish 
 act for consumptive people to go to Florida, 
 or elsewhere South, in search of health, while 
 they are entirely unacquainted with the nature 
 of the country, — the temperature, contagious 
 miasmata, atmospheric vicissitudes, elevation, 
 dryness or humidity, and quality of the diet 
 and drinking water. 
 
 They might find, instead of the cool 
 draughts of sweet pure water in their northern 
 springs, only the most nauseous pond and lake 
 
Going South for the Winter. 29 
 
 water of abominable taste and qualities, and 
 often without a particle of ice to settle the 
 mud in the drinking vessels ; perhaps, instead 
 of the refreshing breeze so grateful to the 
 parched and feverish consumptive, only the 
 most suffocating air. They might find no frost 
 or snow, but instead, the heat of the sun at 
 meridian pouring its unpitying rays upon an 
 already weakened frame ; and the heavy dews 
 at night, not at all what they were led to 
 expect by the exaggerated reports of interest- 
 ed and inconsiderate parties. They might 
 discover that to obtain a nourishing and pal- 
 atable diet was attended with uncontrollable 
 difficulties, and often impossible. 
 
 It is easy for people who are strong and 
 hearty, and who can devour everything be- 
 fore them greedily, to say that the hotel- 
 keepers do really seem to do their best for 
 their guests, and it won't do to be too hard 
 on them ; but my inquiries and experiments 
 in Florida were not made with reference to 
 such people, but entirely with an eye to the 
 interest of the suffering consumptive, and 
 
 4 
 
30 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 those sportsmen who so boastfully talk of 
 the splendid entertainment they receive are 
 not to be considered in this treatise. I am 
 sure I care nothing for the interest and suc- 
 cess of the hotel adventurers, who " run " 
 their hotels as if their guests had no rights, 
 which hotel-men are bound to respect, and 
 who are many times so regardless of the 
 comfort of those unfortunately sick thrown 
 in their way, being indifferent to everything 
 but skill in packing the greatest number of 
 invalids in the smallest possible space at three 
 and four dollars per day. This packing system 
 in Florida is pushed with systematic vigor ; 
 and as for beds, it were easier to stand up and 
 sleep. Those stupid and deluded people who 
 are so simple as to imagine they are well pro- 
 vided for at a Florida hotel only excite my 
 pity. The consumptive must have always and 
 everywhere a regular systematic and nutritious 
 diet, and a rousing, restoring heroic treatment, 
 and how to get it for the winter in the South 
 is the question. 
 
 The climate of Florida in the winter is 
 
Going South for the Winter, 3 1 
 
 generally most delightfully warm with glorious 
 sunshine arid without frost, but to obtain any- 
 thing more, the most simple food and miser- 
 able accommodation, in the present state of 
 things, is very difficult. The hotels must de- 
 pend, for their uncertain supplies, upon the 
 St. John river steamers from the North. A 
 person in health can enjoy the winter and live 
 well (for him) while shooting and fishing, 
 but the pulmonary invalid, accustomed to the 
 delicacies and comforts at home, cannot get 
 food of a sufficiently nutritive, palatable and 
 supporting character. Such articles of diet, 
 as fine fresh butter, rich cream, fat beef and 
 lamb, strong hearty animal food, which is of 
 the greatest consequence, and which the con- 
 sumptive must have if he would improve his 
 distressed condition, he cannot get. 
 
 Parties who go to East Florida with the 
 stupid idea that they will buy the needful 
 delicacies, will find, on " interviewing " the 
 freedman, that greenbacks are not sufficient 
 inducement to persuade the colored man to 
 shoot and fish for anybody. While the contin- 
 
3 2 Going South for the Winter, 
 
 uous lakes that make up the St. John's river 
 are alive with fine fish, jumping from the 
 water in every direction and easily taken ; if 
 the verdant invalid beg the native to catch 
 some fish for him, he will probably tell you, 
 " No use gwyne to dar riber, cause the gud 
 durn fish don't bite dar, sho' as you live> 
 boss." 
 
 The innocent delight of the Florida " fit- 
 teenth amendment " is to sleep, eat bacon, and 
 keep " shady " whenever he can ; so that the 
 pulmonary invalid from the North must go 
 without his fresh fish, or paddle his own 
 canoe and hunt and fish for himself, which is 
 impossible. 
 
 From the difficulty of receiving supplies 
 from the North in good order in Florida, the 
 regulation of the diet, an essential point, cannot 
 be properly attended to at the hotels, now the 
 winter resorts of the army of northern in- 
 * valids. Consumptive people may be im- 
 proved on the hog and hominy diet, but I have 
 not happened to fall in with any who looked 
 as if they had been improved. Florida does 
 
Going South for the Winter. 33 
 
 not produce good beef, mutton, or milk, all of 
 which are positively necessary for making up 
 a diet for the consumptive. 
 
 "GOIXG OFF." 
 
 No one who may be suffering from pulmon 
 ary consumption should venture to leave the 
 comforts, sympathy, attention, nutritious diet 
 and encouragement to be found at home 
 among friends, and go " South for the win- 
 ter," without having made the most ample 
 and liberal preparation. 
 
 The question of going, and where to go, 
 should be well discussed, and, when decided, 
 go direct to the point selected, without loiter- 
 ing about with careless indifference concern- 
 ing your movements. 
 
 There is generally great depression, un- 
 easiness, and often complete breaking down of 
 the unfortunate consumptive, when " Going 
 Off." While the dread of leaving friends and 
 loved relations, perhaps, for the last time, is 
 very touching, and altogether indescribable, 
 
34 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 many times producing- serious nervous pros- 
 trations, which cannot but be dangerous to 
 the consumptive. 
 
 This should not be encouraged, but wisely 
 provided for when friends are 
 
 " Going South for the winter." 
 
 "HOW TO GO/' 
 
 In " going South for the winter," the invalid 
 has a choice of route ; parties who do not 
 suffer from sea-sickness, will find the steamers 
 leaving New York several times a week, the 
 most desirable conveyance, provided the in- 
 valid can be assured of any positive comfort in a 
 sea voyage, cooped up in the close cabin, and 
 after, pounded to a jelly almost, from rolling 
 in the berth of a state-room. 
 
 Most invalids who suffer from phthisis in 
 " going South for the winter," should take the 
 safe and easy route from New York to Phila- 
 delphia, ninety miles, by rail, remain over one 
 or two days at Philadelphia ; then from Phila- 
 delphia, (stop at Baltimore), to Washington, 
 
Going South for the Winter. 35 
 
 one hundred and thirty-six miles, by rail; 
 again, leave Washington for Richmond, (stop 
 at Wilmington), one hundred and thirty miles, 
 by rail; a few days at Richmond for repose 
 and renewed strength, and then off for Augusta, 
 Georgia, when the consumptive will be wise if 
 he stop a while, en route. Many consump- 
 tives would find it profitable and healthful to 
 remove to Augusta permanently, perhaps. 
 At all events, to winter here is worth a triaL 
 The city of Augusta is a handsome and 
 thriving place, very like a northern city, and 
 more pleasing in appearance to the eye of a 
 northern man than any city south of Baltimore. 
 The changes of temperature are sometimes sud- 
 den, however, and March winds rather trying. 
 ■Having decided to leave Augusta, you may 
 take the roomy sleeping-car for Savannah. 
 
 SAVANNAH, GEORGIA. 
 
 Savannah is the largest city of Georgia, 
 and very beautifully laid out. Streets gen- 
 erally unpaved, but all handsomely shaded by 
 the charming Melia Azedarach (Pride of In- 
 
3 6 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 dia) trees. There are the most lovely little 
 squares or parks all over the city, in all, about 
 twenty or thirty, lined with lofty shade trees. 
 Opposite the " Pulaski House," on the square, 
 is a noble monument erected in memory of 
 Gen. Pulaski. The luxuriance of the growth, 
 and the freshness of the out-door creeping 
 vines and shrubs, add much to the appearance 
 of the city. The wonderful cemetery of 
 Bonaventre is a great curiosity to the stranger. 
 A week spent here at the " Pulaski," or 
 " Skreven House * will give the consumptive 
 invalid an opportunity to renew his strength, 
 and eat the last good meal he may expect till 
 returned from Florida. 
 
 The drinking water of the city is poor and 
 even dangerous to some persons who use it 
 for the first time. The writer would not be 
 doing his duty if he neglected to warn stran- 
 gers against indulging freely in the drinking 
 water of Savannah, and, in fact, all the drink- 
 ing water after leaving Charleston to go South, 
 should be used with caution. The consump- 
 tive has more to fear from a violent diarrhea, 
 
Going South for the Winter. 37 
 
 brought about by the unhealthy water every- 
 where south of Charleston, than he can 
 imagine. The writer knows of what he speaks, 
 having seen and felt the effects of drinking this 
 water, in his own, and a number of other cases 
 of northern people who go South. 
 
 The city of Savannah, with its great, noble 
 old trees, wide streets, neat well-kept parks 
 and abundance of shade, has more the appear- 
 ance of a great county town, than the busy 
 commercial city that it is. The winters are 
 very mild and the atmosphere easy to breathe, 
 but generally pretty well charged with 
 moisture. 
 
 THE OTHER ROUTE. 
 
 The invalid who is seriously ill, and is de- 
 sirous of going through to Florida without stop- 
 ping, would find that a very difficult matter to 
 accomplish by rail, as the cars do not connect 
 as promptly as they should. A sleeping-car 
 could be taken at New York through to Rich- 
 
 5 
 
3$ Going South for the Winter, 
 
 mond, and again sleeping-car to Augusta and 
 Charleston. 
 
 To go by steamer to Charleston is the most 
 direct, if the patient can weather a sea-voyage 
 in winter ; then from Charleston to Savannah 
 and Jacksonville, by the " inside" route ; mak- 
 ing the outside sea-trip only that from New 
 York to Charleston. 
 
 CHARLESTON. 
 
 A few days at Charleston will not be lost to 
 the invalid ; and this city, as a home for the 
 winter, will suit a class of consumptives who 
 must be in regular and easy communication 
 with the Eastern States. 
 
 The inducements for remaining at Charles- 
 ton a short time for a trial of the air, before 
 going to Florida, are many. The city always 
 has a warm, cheerful look ; with its streets 
 lined with ornamental trees, tasty gardens and 
 profusion of shrubbery and climbing vines en- 
 closing the neatly painted piazzas, all combin- 
 
Going South for the Winter. 39 
 
 ing to remind the stranger of spring and sum- 
 mer at home. 
 
 The houses — many of them are of elegant 
 and solid proportions. The streets are well 
 and widely laid out — though now need paving 
 again — with the stones removed from the 
 streets to fill up a wall for Fort Sumter dur- 
 ing the war. The business part of the city — 
 on which are the warehouses and shops — pre- 
 sent always a lively, busy scene. The stores 
 are well supplied with French and English 
 goods. Many of the wealthy residents who 
 suffered so severely [during the late war, 
 and who still occupy the best dwellings, are 
 to be seen daily out among the well-dressed 
 crowd ; and easily recognized by their digni- 
 fied manner and characteristic style. Some 
 of the best houses are yet in a dilapidated con- 
 dition, having a forlorn, deserted look, as if 
 they were frowning down upon the spot from 
 whence Gilmore and his swamp-angel sent so 
 many unwelcome messages. 
 
 Charleston has some excellent hotels, which 
 are the attraction always for the stranger in a 
 
40 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 strange place. The " Mills House" is a stately 
 building, and pleasantly situated. The old 
 popular resort, the "Charleston House," is 
 much in the style of " Barnum's Hotel " of 
 Baltimore ; and is a most comfortable, roomy, 
 old-fashioned hotel ; the rooms are large and 
 airy. In this city and neighborhood are 
 "sights" enough to amuse the invalid for a 
 few days while resting, before taking the 
 steamer to Savannah. Fort Sumter, Magno- 
 lia Cemetery, Castle Pinckney, the old Custom- 
 house, where our revolutionary patriots were 
 held by the British, are, with many public 
 buildings and private residences, worth see- 
 ing. The time can be agreeably employed in 
 a variety of beautiful drives in the immediate 
 vicinity of the city. Charleston has some fine 
 club-houses, restaurants, and excellent Mill 
 Pond oysters. Theatres and places of amuse- 
 ment are not numerous, or very well sup- 
 ported. There is little sociability, except 
 among the middle-class of society. The old 
 South Carolinians are very reserved, and 
 proudly claim a superiority — former elegance 
 
 \ 
 
Going South for the Winter, 4 1 
 
 and lavish luxury — which will not permit them 
 to visit only in their own circle. It would be 
 difficult to find a better place, or more com- 
 fortable hotel to stop at and luxuriate a little 
 before "going to Florida for the winter." 
 
 JACKSONVILLE. 
 
 The town — or rather as the inhabitants love 
 to call it — city of Jacksonville, stretches along 
 the west side of the river St. John, and back 
 into the country a considerable distance. This 
 town, with a harbor so spacious that ocean 
 vessels of a thousand tons can come up the 
 river to the landing, and a population consist- 
 ing now mostly of New England people, is 
 destined to be the great business centre of 
 Florida. The climate is balmy, and remark- 
 ably soothing ; with cool nights, such as to 
 make it necessary to have a good fire after 
 sun-set, as a safe-guard against fevers. The 
 buildings are extremely old-fashioned, and of 
 irregular style, wanting paint badly ; and 
 now either whitewashed, or entirely neglected, 
 
4 2 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 presenting a faded, dreary appearance. The 
 soil is very light ; and in order to make the 
 streets passable for pedestrians, each side of 
 the main streets is paved with plank, which 
 answers pretty well for a footpath. 
 
 The chief attraction for northern people to 
 go to Jacksonville to locate permanently, is 
 the peculiar climate, cheapness of land, (two 
 or three, dollars per acre,) and opportunities 
 for market gardening, which is largely entered 
 into by Eastern States people all along the 
 river. There is much activity and business 
 energy exhibited by the people, and the profits 
 of market gardening, with frequent oppor- 
 tunities for shipping North from here, will 
 make Jacksonville a very busy place. A 
 number of store-houses and neat cottages 
 have recently been erected, and the grounds 
 attached to the new houses are all prettily 
 laid out, with walks and shrubs and the great- 
 est variety of flowers, which can be cultivated 
 and bloom all winter. The character and ap- 
 pearance of Jacksonville is being changed and 
 modernized. In fact, the whole town is being 
 
Going South for the Winter, 43 
 
 rebuilt and made a New England town. A 
 large hotel, called the St. James, capable of 
 accommodating comfortably one hundred or 
 more guests, is now open, has a good situation, 
 a few moments' walk from the landing. The 
 other hotels have been longer built, but are 
 good enough of their kind. There are any 
 number of private boarding-houses, which 
 will receive parties to board for the winter, 
 and one would think there was room enough 
 for all who wished to remain at Jacksonville 
 for a trial of the air, before going further 
 South on the river. Still, many invalids who 
 arrive here in urgent nee,d of nice comfortable 
 quarters, are frequently compelled to put up 
 with quite inferior apartments. 
 
 The rush to Jacksonville is often so great, 
 that if the whole population of the town 
 should turn out, their houses would not fur- 
 nish room for the army of consumptives who 
 have found their way here. There are a few 
 cows to be found here, but unskimmed milk, 
 fresh eggs, and good butter are very scarce, and 
 command high prices. The charges for board, 
 
44 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 at all the winter resorts of invalids who go to 
 Florida, is about what you pay at any of 
 our northern summer resorts, but rooms can 
 sometimes be had by parties of three or four, 
 who furnish their own table, and, perhaps, 
 board at a low price, can be had in some 
 hotels and boarding-houses ; but, good board, a 
 generous table, attendance, and such fare as the 
 consumptive must positively have, will cost 
 three, four, and five dollars per day. The 
 most decided indifference as to what quantity 
 and quality of food is supplied for the con- 
 sumptive, is remarked at all the stopping 
 places in Florida. The expenses are large, 
 and the trouble of keeping a good supply of 
 fresh meats in such a climate, makes all hotel 
 people keep an eye to the profits, — their " sea- 
 son" being only for three months. There is 
 daily communication with the North from 
 Jacksonville, by rail and boat. Steamers from 
 this town are daily ascending and descending 
 the river, while, often the consumptive will 
 have more comfort and better table on the 
 steamers " City Point," and " Lizzie Baker," 
 
Going South for the Winter. 45 
 
 or " Dictator," than can be had on the shores 
 at boarding-houses ; but, anywhere and every- 
 where, the fare is poor, and not suited to the 
 condition of the worn-out famished sufferer, 
 with lung disease. 
 
 MANDAKIN. 
 
 Going South from Jacksonville on the 
 steamer " Dictator," you soon come in sight 
 of a rickety old pier, fronting a point of land 
 called Mandarin, a most uninviting, gloomy 
 place to live, one would say. This spot is 
 marked by all invalids going on the river St. 
 John, and by all Southerners, from the fact of 
 Mrs. Stowe being the owner of everything 
 there worth having, including an orange grove 
 of great promise. 
 
 MAGNOLIA. 
 
 Dr. Benedict, of St. Augustine, was the 
 first to take advantage of this " opening," and 
 at one time had a flourishing establishment 
 6 
 
4-6 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 here, which has passed out of his hands, and 
 the Dr. resumed practice in St. Augustine. 
 The hotel is still open, and guests receive all 
 the attention and comfort possible to have in 
 this region. The steamers on the St. John all 
 touch at Magnolia, and a number of northern 
 consumptives stop for the winter. The hotel, 
 as in fact are nearly all on the river, is kept 
 by Eastern States people. It is not unusual to 
 meet with invalids in Florida who are very 
 happy about their improvement at Magnolia. 
 It will not, perhaps, damage the consumptive 
 much, after once on the St. John river, to give 
 all these places a temporary trial. It won't 
 do for a sick man to lose his senses, and 
 rashly give up all hope of benefit without a 
 trial. 
 
 HIBERNIA, 
 
 A good place, surely, for a hearty party of 
 sportsmen to bivouac. Hibernia has the same 
 features in common with all other places on 
 the river. When a steamer touches the land- 
 ing here, there is always some poor consump- 
 
Going South for the Winter. 47 
 
 tive creature leaving the boat to find his way 
 to the little hotel, not knowing or caring why, 
 often. The languid indifference of these 
 wretched people, ignorantly wandering about 
 in search of health, reminds one Of the gone- 
 ness and lost personality of a man thoroughly 
 sea-sick. The only change and pastime the 
 unfortunates have while here, is to get down 
 to the landing on the arrival of every boat, 
 and, with their upturned faces, watch each 
 passenger in the hope of seeing a familiar face 
 from the cold North ; and the delight and 
 satisfaction on seeing some consumptive ac- 
 quaintance come off the plank is wonderful, 
 even though they wish no one ill. Still misery 
 loves company. 
 
 GREEN COVE SPRING. 
 
 At a landing called Green Cove Spring, 
 you find you are over one hundred miles south 
 of Jacksonville on the St. John river. Here 
 there is one hotel and several good private 
 boarding-houses. Captain Glinski and Cap- 
 
4$ Going South for the Winter, 
 
 tain Henderson, old residents, have a select 
 number of guests in their private houses dur- 
 ing the winter, and if the invalid must go to 
 this place, it is wise to get accommodations at 
 either of these two private boarding-houses. 
 A multitude of consumptive and rheumatic- 
 ally-disposed people go to Green Cove Spring, 
 and many land without finding any decent ac- 
 commodation whatever. The only hotel is 
 generally crowded when the boat reaches the 
 pier ; and T hope my readers may never see 
 the distressing sight of such poor exhausted 
 invalids as one will see dragging their weary 
 limbs over this long pier to the hotel, to have 
 only the pleasing intelligence that " if you will 
 room with a nice party on the top floor now, I 
 can do better by and by." And this is re- 
 peated day after day, all winter, through the 
 whole of Florida. 
 
 The writer was glad to find shelter, and de- 
 lighted on being favored even with a comfort- 
 able bed on the floor of the parlor of the 
 hotel, he making one of four compagnons de 
 voyage, three being just arrived from the cold 
 
Going South for the Winter, 49 
 
 North, without scarce a spark of life left them. 
 The parlor, smoking-room and every vacant 
 spot in-doors, is used to " stow away " the suf- 
 ferers. The parlor being the poorest place 
 for the invalid to be booked for, as he must 
 " stop up " till the room is left by the guests 
 of the house. This will apply to all resorts 
 now so crowded by northern invalids in 
 search of health. 
 
 Excepting during a few days in winter, the 
 climate is delightful — but not stimulating or 
 tonic in the least — quite warm in the day-time, 
 and, for some, almost debilitating. The sul- 
 phur spring is resorted to by persons suffering 
 from rheumatism and dyspepsia, who think 
 they get benefited. The spring consists of a 
 basin about fifty feet across, inclosed by under- 
 growth completely, so that bathers who use 
 the water have the privilege to bathe without 
 the vexation of using a close bathing-room — 
 rather a primitive style — but where all are so 
 dreadfully sick, it is not considered necessary 
 to be too nice about appearances. It is under- 
 stood among those who frequent this pool of 
 
5° Going South for the Winter. 
 
 sulphur water that there are days reserved 
 for females to enjoy the water exclusively. 
 
 A beautiful leaping cascade is formed from 
 the waste water of the spring, and the water 
 is always strongly impregnated with sulphur, 
 which is gulped down by many enthusiasts. 
 At this resort, beautiful enough by nature, 
 you experience the same difficulty as else- 
 where in Florida — the serious want of ice, 
 good drinking water, milk and strong rich food. 
 There is a want of appetite and a relaxed 
 feeling, without the bracing air of the North 
 (cold as it is), to give tone to the system and 
 life to the blood. Under the most favorable 
 circumstances, perhaps, some consumptives 
 could winter here and possibly improve. 
 
 It should be positively understood between 
 the partv "going South for the winter" and 
 parties who engage to furnish apartments and 
 proper board for the consumptive invalid, that 
 no mistake is made. It is generally impossible 
 to secure good accommodations on the arrival 
 of the steamer at any of these landings in 
 Florida, unless engaged before, and often not 
 
Going South for the Winter. 5 1 
 
 even then. Hotel-men are quite indifferent 
 about the matter. 
 
 PILATKA. 
 
 This is the most agreeable place the con- 
 sumptive will meet on the river St. John. 
 This little village, with a half dozen country 
 stores, a hotel, good drug-store, two churches 
 and a newspaper, is the only live place after 
 leaving Jacksonville. Pleasant cottages are 
 here and there springing up to help the ap- 
 pearance of the place. 
 
 The river boats all stop at this landing, 
 affording constant communication between this 
 place and Savannah. Mr. Austin, from one 
 of the Eastern States, keeps a very comfort- 
 able hotel, and provides as good a table as at 
 any other point on the river. A new hotel, 
 well kept, well provided and well supplied 
 with such comforts and luxuries as consump- 
 tives need, and suffer without, would, if esta- 
 blished here, pay beyond anything a hotel- 
 speculator could imagine. 
 
5 2 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 The village is situated upon the most rising 
 ground on the river. The stores all have a 
 good supply of northern goods. The air is 
 pure and soothing to pulmonary irritations, 
 with a clear sky and abundance of sunshine — 
 that great source of human joy and friend 
 of the consumptive. The writer was struck 
 with the evident opportunity offered, and the 
 wisdom and advantage to persons suffering 
 from pulmonary consumption, to organize and 
 leave home in a company, with servants, 
 nurse and a good supply of comforts and 
 conveniences, to locate here for the winter, 
 sending forward temporary cottages, shipped 
 and put up ready to receive them. In this 
 way all the necessary provisions could be 
 made for a comfortable winter, while orders 
 could be held for luxuries, knick-knacks, meats 
 and delicacies regularly from the North. 
 There are enough consumptives who can 
 "join in," after reaching Florida, and pursue 
 this course. Tomatoes, green peas, radishes 
 and lettuce, with early potatoes, can be grown 
 as early as March. 
 
Going South for the Winter, 53 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. 
 
 St. Augustine we know to be the oldest set- 
 tled place in the United States. The old 
 friend of Columbus was the first to visit the 
 coast, and named it Florida, from the great 
 number and variety of flowers. The little set- 
 tlement of St. Augustine was at one time com- 
 pletely sacked and plundered by an English 
 pirate who found his way here. In 1640 there 
 was a population of two thousand persons, 
 who made up a thrifty little village. General 
 Jackson forced the Spanish to lower their 
 standard to the Stars and Stripes, after a Span- 
 ish rule of two hundred years. General Jack- 
 son never spared his men in this Florida war — 
 marching them hundreds of miles in the short- 
 est possible time. 
 
 A Spanish captain brought to the settlement 
 of St. Augustine as early as 1690 a lot of Span- 
 ish negroes to work his plantation ; hence the 
 early inauguration of slavery. St. Augustine 
 has more to recommend it as a winter resi- 
 dence for persons suffering from diseases of 
 
 7 
 
54 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 the chest than any other spot in Florida. The 
 climate is extremely mild and lovely, with 
 strong tonic sea-air. Many wealthy people, 
 who do not care to risk the extreme variations 
 of temperature of our Northern States, have 
 fled from a cold home in the North, purchased 
 land and erected comfortable cottages here, 
 for living during the winter, free from snow 
 and eternal ice. For those consumptives who 
 are recommended sea-air with mild climate, 
 St. Augustine, in full view of the glorious 
 ocean, lashing arid rolling heavily on the most 
 beautiful shores, is unsurpassed as a winter 
 home. The distressed consumptive, when 
 here, is not so likely to suffer from the extreme 
 languor and complete exhaustion, so common 
 to persons with phthisis. The sea-breeze is 
 most refreshing and invigorating to these 
 feverish invalids. 
 
 On rising of a morning, after a good night's 
 rest, to find the warm morning sun shining 
 brightly through your window is more cheer- 
 ing and reviving than the feeling of disap- 
 pointment on looking from your padded sick- 
 
Going South for the Winter. 55 
 
 room out upon the snow-covered streets in 
 the North. 
 
 This old town is the only really favored spot 
 to winter, in this whole flat, miserable, marshy 
 country. The town is less than ten feet above 
 the sea, and the Government constructed an 
 extensive wall to protect the place from the 
 encroachments of the sea (imperfections in this 
 wall will sometime wake the inhabitants rather 
 early of a morning). This great wall was from 
 1837 to 1848 in building. The strangers who 
 spend the winter here find this wall a grand 
 promenade of a moonlight night, with the 
 ocean bounding in upon one, till stayed by the 
 granite wall at your feet. 
 
 The United States band from the Barracks 
 affords about the only entertainment of a pub- 
 lic character. Every morning the officer of 
 the day is called upon to change guard ; and 
 while this is in order, the band of the post will 
 give the people some fine music on the plaza. 
 The streets here are only about nine feet wide, 
 without a side-walk, which is the most amaz- 
 ing sight you can see anywhere in Florida. 
 
5 6 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 These streets were in time of the Spanish rule 
 kept in excellent order ; but now are badly cut 
 up, dirty and dusty with the shifting sand. 
 
 The houses are but two stories high, with 
 an out-reaching piazza fronting each, opening 
 on the second floor ; from the piazza on one 
 side of the street, across to one of the houses 
 opposite, two persons could nearly touch 
 hands. The plan of this old city reminds one 
 of the oldest part of the city of Quebec. 
 Very few of the old Spanish stock are now 
 living here ; but you can detect in the bright 
 eye, elastic step, and raven locks of some of 
 the many pretty women, the evidence of the 
 Spanish blood. There are two or three fair 
 hotels ; but a first-class hotel is sadly needed. 
 A number of private boarding-houses are open, 
 kept by estimable, educated ladies, who do all 
 in their power to make their guests comfort- 
 able ; but unfortunately for new arrivals, are 
 always full ; in fact, their apartments are en- 
 gaged from year to year in advance. 
 
 Northern invalids going to St. Augustine, 
 will find almost every available house crowded 
 
Going South for the Winter. 57 
 
 to the utmost, with wasted desponding- con- 
 sumptives. The stranger who arrives here 
 to remain the winter, without giving previous 
 notice, and securing apartments, must expect 
 to fare little better than at other Florida win- 
 ter resorts. As to hotel management, it is just 
 the same here at St. Augustine as you find it 
 wherever the season is a short one, and hotel 
 men must make their profits in a few short 
 months during the year. Too often the ho- 
 tels everywhere are conducted by parties en- 
 tirely ignorant of the wants and necessities of 
 their guests, who may be ill with consumption. 
 There will be a change for the better in the 
 hotel accommodation at St. Augustine short- 
 ly, as enterprising parties of large experience 
 in hotel management in New Jersey (Long 
 Branch) are preparing to have in working 
 order a much better hotel than has ever been 
 known there ; which will prove profitable 
 both to the proprietors and the public. Some 
 persons who are now satisfied, perhaps well 
 pleased with Florida hotels, but they are either 
 sadly uninformed of the wants, comforts and 
 
5 8 Going South for the Winter, 
 
 diet required by the consumptive, or are so 
 hearty, and have so much vigor that they can- 
 not understand why the sick and prostrate 
 sufferer should have extra care and attention. 
 If parties who go to St. Augustine in search 
 of health, can take a cottage and supply their 
 own table, or obtain board in one of the excel- 
 lent private boarding-houses, they can be as- 
 sured of a most lovely winter climate, with 
 fruit and vegetables nearly all the winter. 
 Oranges are very plenty, and exceedingly lus- 
 cious. One cannot conceive of the life and 
 freshness of the pure, golden fruit, plucked as 
 they hang in clusters, direct from the enor- 
 mous trees. A healthy orange-tree will yield 
 from five to ten thousand marketable oranges 
 yearly ; such trees are not unlike our mature, 
 thrifty apple-trees, but much more compact, 
 and inexpressibly lovely to look at, " oranges, 
 sweet oranges," as they are floating in the 
 bright sunlight of the sunny South. Previous 
 to 1835, when St. Augustine was visited with 
 the most severe frost ever known there, the 
 income from oranges was very great. The 
 
Going South for the Winter. 59 
 
 writer met with a number of speculators from 
 the Eastern States who had invested all their 
 means in a wild scheme of growing oranges 
 for the northern market, and, of course, made 
 a bad failure ; as have many cotton specula- 
 tors who had entered plantations. Orange- 
 trees are slow growers. It will be a good 
 investment for a father to set an orange grove 
 for his son, who, in twenty years, will have a 
 fortune from his oranges. The best trees are 
 twenty years of age. Such monstrous lemons 
 are seen nowhere else, as are grown in gar- 
 dens here. For those consumptive patients 
 who can be located comfortably here for the 
 winter, we can safely say, that there is no 
 place in the United States equal to St. Au- 
 gustine for a winter home of the invalid, who, 
 after a trial, finds the disagreeable shortness of 
 breath not increasing on him. 
 
 The influence of such air and such a mild 
 climate for a person suffering from weak lungs, 
 is marked, and the improvement often rapid 
 and lasting ; provided, the sick person can se- 
 cure such diet and surroundings as are indis- 
 
6° Going South for the Winter, 
 
 pensable in the treatment of phthisis, The op- 
 portunity and inducements for exercise in the 
 open air, with a clear, blue sky overhead, and 
 numberless shady nooks and groves to hide 
 in, while snuffing the pure sea-breezes ever 
 changing, and coming to you filled with the 
 saline emanations from the ocean, is truly 
 grateful and profitable. The riding, driving 
 and fishing in the midst of winter, with a beau- 
 tiful sail of an afternoon over Matanzas Sound, 
 and out of the inlet to the ocean, is something 
 that, I believe, c'annot elsewhere be indulged 
 in with so much satisfaction and benefit to the 
 consumptive. There are to be seen any day 
 in winter, on Matanzas Sound, enough of pleas- 
 ure boats to hire for fishing and sailing, or 
 alligator shooting, down the coast, inland, 
 making sufficient amusement, if only sought 
 after. 
 
 In these statements, I only give my own ex- 
 perience, which is entirely impartial and hon- 
 est, having no interest but the interest of those 
 consumptives who have no time to doubt or de- 
 lay, and who are zealously seeking daily for a 
 
Going South for the Winter. 61 
 
 true statement of the advantages (if any) of 
 " going South for the winter," 
 
 I wish now, to give to all such x timely warn- 
 ing, that they must expect to endure priva- 
 •tions and vexations which cannot be antici- 
 pated. You must not expect to find perpetual 
 sunshine, or equable temperature always any- 
 where in the South. The dampness of even- 
 ing will often warn the consumptive to seek 
 the warmth and cheer of a good fire, even in 
 Florida ; and on the damp, disagreeable days 
 — as such occur during winter — extra caution 
 about exposure and dress might be exercised. 
 
 In reaching St. Augustine there is one seri- 
 ous difficulty, and the uncertainty of getting 
 away again, is worth mentioning. 
 
 After touching a steamboat landing on the 
 St. John River, named Picolata (which will 
 always be remembered by the unfortunates), 
 consisting of a one-story building for a stage 
 station, where the poor ghostly, colorless suf- 
 ferer is left by the steamer, ready to fall from 
 exhaustion, and fainting for breath, upon the 
 steamboat dock, is told he must remain in this 
 8 
 
6 2 Going South J or the Winter. 
 
 little station building, as the only shelter for 
 the remainder of the day, and possibly with a 
 chance of spending the night on the floor, 
 with the best provision that can be made in 
 the way of bedding, from this " Picolata," a" 
 very tiresome ride of eighteen miles in horri- 
 bly crowded stages, is the only opportunity 
 to get to St. Augustine. In going to and re- 
 turning from there, you find the stages always 
 over-crowded and disagreeable. The strong- 
 est passenger will always find stage seats, and 
 over-reach the weaker who may require as- 
 sistance to climb into the stages ; and the con- 
 sequence is, the disappointed and discouraged 
 health-seeker is obliged to stop at this apology 
 for a stage depot, until the next day. The 
 weakest consumptive must submit to all sorts 
 of extortion, imposition and impudence prac- 
 ticed upon him from the moment he leaves his 
 home. The manner in which Northerners, far 
 advanced in phthisis, and almost helpless, sub- 
 mit to be packed in stages, steamboats and so- 
 called hotels and boarding-houses in Florida, 
 is marvellous. 
 
Going South for the Winter. 63 
 
 After a night at Picolata station, you rise 
 from a bed on the floor, (which the writer was 
 glad to get going and returning from St. 
 Augustine,) after an unrefreshing rest, and, 
 with a scanty meal, prepare for a stage ride of 
 five hours, through sand near a foot deep, for 
 St. Augustine. If it were possible to know when 
 the sick friends would reach " Picolata" land- 
 ing, by all means get word to St. Augustine 
 for a special conveyance to meet the boat on 
 arrival. The people at this " station " are 
 very kind and sympathising, wearing them- 
 selves out to oblige the stranger, doing all 
 they can with the very limited means pro- 
 vided. All efforts are, however, unavailing 
 for the comfort of the sick ; and it were far 
 better, and, in fact the only sensible plan, to 
 have a conveyance ready to take you across 
 to St. Augustine direct. It is to be hoped 
 that the irrepressible Yankee will soon open 
 steam communication to St. Augustine, by 
 changing the entrance to the harbor ; when 
 soundings, now only nine feet on the bar at 
 low water, preventing the approach of able 
 
6 4 Going South for the Winter, 
 
 steamers, will be altered so as to admit large 
 steamers. When this shall be accomplished, 
 we expect to see this old town of St. Augus- 
 tine the Newport of America. 
 
 ENTERPRISE. 
 
 On a lake far up the St. John river, at the 
 head of navigation, south-east from St. Au'ius- 
 tine, and almost hid from view by the gigantic 
 water oak, magnolias, cypress, maple, pal- 
 metto and palm, all embraced by the char- 
 acteristic moss covering and hansfinsr in dis- 
 mal masses of gray drapery from every limb, 
 is a landing called Enterprise. This is as far 
 south in Florida as invalids from the North 
 ever think of o-oin^ for the winter. Here, in 
 the midst of the great alligator nursery of 
 the St. John, surrounded by mocking birds 
 and stately white cranes, ofien startled by the 
 scream of the bird of Washington, our 
 imperial eagle, the consumptive can bask in 
 the heat of the sun, (so intense as to hatch 
 alligator eggs,) shining upon sand as white as 
 
Going South for the Winter, 65 
 
 snow, blinding one, and making exercise im- 
 possible. 
 
 Enterprise has two or three houses and a 
 hotel, owned by the captain and owner of the 
 steam-boat " Darlington/' which brings you 
 here from Jacksonville. Captain Brock rents 
 his hotel to a down-easter and runs his steam- 
 boat himself. The hotel building is quite a 
 roomy house, capable of " crowding in " say 
 forty or fifty guests. The proprietor keeps as 
 good a house as can be expected so far from 
 " everywhere." 
 
 This single hotel is the only provision made 
 to receive the worn-out, half-starved, dis- 
 gusted invalid. This region is destitute of 
 interest and comfort for the sick man, and 
 entirely too far from home and friends to 
 suit many who desire to winter in Florida ; 
 everything used has to be boated up the river 
 from the North. The country does not pro- 
 duce anything ; ice is much wished for by the 
 sick, but must be used sparingly from the 
 difficulty of obtaining it, while none but insane 
 consumptives would think of asking for good ice 
 
66 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 water to drink on arriving at the landing here 
 in the " Darlington," after a very tiresome trip 
 up the river. If not so touching, it would be 
 amusing to see the surprise of the strangers 
 who crowd together looking vacantly about 
 for the " village " of Enterprise. The place is 
 so much talked of by healthy parties (sports- 
 men) on the river, that the consumptive is 
 deceived as to the character of the place, and 
 in consequence, may go up to Enterprise, 
 where they find the hotel full of northerners, 
 sent down here' to die and be buried in the 
 shifting sand. It is impossible to imagine the 
 melancholy air, haggard, suffering, wasted 
 form, sparkling eye, and sunken cheek of the 
 poor creatures on the river and at all the 
 landings, bathed in prespiration from weakness 
 and the heat of the burning sun, parched and 
 choked for ice and cooling drinks, wandering 
 about dejected, disgusted with the transparent 
 humbug of trying to gain health and strength 
 in this barren waste, and almost ready to drop 
 into the hideous jaws of the alligator and end 
 their misery. 
 
Going South for the Winter, 67 
 
 In this latitude bananas, figs, cocoa-nuts, 
 coffee, olives, lemons, and ginger may be 
 cultivated ; and while the climate here and at 
 Indian River and Key West, is more mild 
 than at any other locality within the limits of 
 the United States, I would not care to have 
 patients select this region for the winter ; but 
 for sportsmen, who are " looking up " a place 
 to enjoy the winter, there is no place where 
 you can kill a breakfast of deer at easier rifle- 
 shot without leaving your camp. The aston- 
 ished deer will walk directly over your camp- 
 ing place. Bear, panther, and wild-cat abound 
 in the interior of the dense forest. The wea- 
 ther is so mild, that the only shelter required, 
 if you wish to lodge out-of-doors, is a simple 
 rubber blanket, or you can suspend yourself 
 with comfort on a hammock. 
 
 As the mosquitoes never get their wings 
 touched with frost, they are very healthy and 
 troublesome late in the season. For alligator 
 shooting, this cove of Enterprise is always 
 alive with enormous alligators, which are only 
 driven away from the landing by the steam- 
 
68 Going South for the Winter, 
 
 boat. The further you go up the lake from 
 here, the more plenty and bold you find the 
 alligators, and all large game. It would 
 prove spendid sport to take a boat and pad- 
 dle up the lake, fighting your way among the 
 twenty-feet long alligators, and if your pluck 
 will allow you to go ashore in the marsh, you 
 can walk over acres of alligators, while shoot- 
 ing with the greatest ease and pleasure, as 
 many splendid turkeys as would supply our 
 eastern market for Thanksgiving Day. 
 
 As I am only interested in the question of 
 climatic influences in the treatment of pul- 
 monary consumption, I will leave others to 
 describe the wonderful and amazingly wild 
 scenery, and all the wonders of the St. John 
 river. Parties who wish for pure, unadulterated 
 sport, hunting in the middle of winter, will 
 find all the sport, and a table and accommoda- 
 tion suited to their wants, at Captain Brock's 
 hotel, at Enterprise ; but for the sick and 
 weary consumptive, places not so far from di- 
 rect and easy communication with the North 
 should be tried first ; very few feeble con 
 
Going South for the Winter. &9 
 
 sumptive persons have the strength required 
 to undertake long journeys. The trip to En- 
 terprise is attended with difficulties, and re- 
 quires more exertion and effort than most 
 invalids can endure, who will find only apolo- 
 gies for the rich butter, delicious bread, fat 
 beef, mutton, milk, and sweet cream, of special 
 value to the sick man. 
 
 LAKE HARNEY. 
 
 Lake Harney can be visited by parties who 
 choose to hire a little steamer kept for the 
 purpose at this landing. The lake can be 
 "done" in one day, and nowhere can pleas- 
 ure-seekers find so much really-exciting sport, 
 while gazing in wonder and delight upon a 
 tropical wilderness. 
 
 Hunting parties could leave New York in 
 winter by the quickest and most direct route, 
 reaching Brock's hotel at Enterprise at the 
 end of a week — allowing two weeks for shoot- 
 ing and another for returning — reaching home 
 
 9 
 
7° Going South for the Winter. 
 
 after only a month's absence, entirely surfeited 
 with most magnificent sport. 
 
 AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 It would be impossible to find any climate 
 fully equal to the necessities of the patients 
 with pulmonary disease ; but nature not in- 
 terfered with, and aided by climatic influences, 
 will often provide more wisely for the con- 
 sumptive than the physician can hope to. 
 
 It must be remembered by the consump- 
 tive, that, to accomplish much, he must him- 
 self take advantage of every circumstance and 
 opportunity for improvnig his condition. If he 
 be wanting in prudence or resolution and 
 promptitude in using all the means and influ- 
 ences he can command to make a vigorous 
 prosecution of his " battle for life," he will 
 miserably fail. Every individual with serious 
 lung trouble must feel that he is fighting for 
 existence, if he would be successfully treated. 
 
 Having taken a hasty view of all the points 
 in Florida of interest to the consumptive, we 
 
Going South for the Winter. 7 l 
 
 cannot do better than spend a few moments 
 in considering the propriety of a winter in 
 South Carolina. 
 
 About one hundred miles by rail from 
 Charleston, you will find a pleasant village 
 and section of country covered with lofty old 
 pines, and an atmosphere permeated with 
 pitch-pine perfume. This region has many 
 special advantages of climate to recommend 
 it as peculiarly suited to cases of pulmonary 
 consumption. For miles around, a beautiful, 
 wild, healthy country of hill and dale meet 
 the eye. This whole section of South Caro- 
 lina is one vast forest of noble old pines. 
 
 To reach Aiken from Charleston by rail, you 
 will pass through horrible swampy, worthless 
 land, suited for the great breeding-place for 
 reptiles and insects of every variety and size. 
 From the time you leave Charleston, the 
 country rises gradually till you reach Aiken, 
 six hundred feet above the level of the sea, 
 and breathe altogether the most tonic and 
 easily - breathed air of any locality in the 
 South. The buoyancy of the air is at once 
 
7 2 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 remarked. Aiken will, undoubtedly and de- 
 servedly, be a great resort for scores of inva- 
 lids from the North. 
 
 The village of Aiken is decidedly the most 
 central and easy of access in reach of the con- 
 sumptive, having regular daily mail opportun- 
 ities for getting horses and carriages, good 
 water, good society, with no vicious exhala- 
 tions to poison the air, a clear sky and magni- 
 ficent scenery, making this region very desir- 
 able as a winter residence. Aiken has four 
 churches, a number of well-stocked country 
 stores, pleasant private boarding-houses, post- 
 office and fine railroad depot building. 
 
 A number of physicians are here, some 
 being old residents and reliable practitioners ; 
 while other Eastern State physicians have, 
 since the late war, located here for the pur- 
 pose of receiving patients and treating them 
 in their own dwellings. The old residents are 
 highly educated, obliging and kind to stran- 
 gers, treating northern people with civility 
 In the interior, some of the inhabitants still 
 consider a northern man their enemy, and 
 
Going South for the Winter. 73 
 
 have no confidence or communication with 
 him ; but all want quiet, and an opportunity to 
 begin life anew, and let bygones be bygones. 
 
 The writer rode from seven to ten miles 
 daily about the neighborhood of Aiken, dur- 
 ing a month in winter, for observation and to 
 test the climate, and does not remember ever 
 to have received an unkind word ; but, on the 
 contrary, even when miles away, over hills 
 covered with almost impenetrable grand old 
 pine woods, found every stranger, horseman 
 or hunter, communicative and agreeable." 
 
 The soil of this region of South Carolina is, 
 much of it, unsuited to agricultural pursuits, 
 but on the ridges is fertile and well adapted 
 to the culture of the grape — an inducement for 
 consumptives to settle here. The best land 
 here has been offered by the owners at a ridic- 
 ulously low price. Several fine farms for vine- 
 yard culture, lately owned by parties here, 
 have been caught up by northern speculators, 
 who purchased these valuable properties with 
 fine buildings, often securing the whole at 
 what it would cost to build the dwellings 
 
74 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 alone. Much of the best property has been 
 purchased within a few months. 
 
 Up to the present time, nothing in the hotel 
 line accommodation, really worthy of a spot 
 where nature has lavished her treasures on, 
 has been done. All around, the country is 
 wild, broken and romantic. You look from 
 your window on a chain of hills and ridges, 
 with here and there deep ravines, water- 
 courses and hollows, which make up the pe- 
 culiar features of this healthful region, yet 
 almost entirely deserted. 
 
 There is one large hotel at this place, where 
 guests can be made comfortable. The sleep- 
 ing-apartments are roomy, unusually so — -each 
 with a large fire-place for a pine-wood fire, 
 furnishing a very cheering retreat on a rainy 
 day. Every opportunity is here offered for 
 enterprising parties to establish a " grand 
 hotel." The private houses, always pleasant 
 and home-like for an invalid, are full every, 
 winter, while the hotel, and buildings erected 
 by northern physicians, who receive consump- 
 tives from the North, are crowded also. 
 
Going South for the Winter, 75 
 
 The climate here undoubtedly offers more 
 curative properties and advantages to the con- 
 sumptive than any other locality in the South. 
 Aiken is seldom visited by snow and severe 
 weather — cold storms of sleet and snow so 
 much dreaded by the invalid. The walks are 
 always dry a few hours after a heavy rain, 
 making exercise safe and profitable. The air 
 is peculiarly dry and tonic. 
 
 The enthusiasm on breathing this stimulat- 
 ing atmosphere is quite enough to establish a 
 reputation for the place. A constitution not 
 naturally strong, is invigorated, and there is 
 an elasticity and buoyancy of the air quite 
 remarkable. 
 
 Exercise on horseback, so attractive and 
 healthful, can be enjoyed without the usual ex- 
 treme fatigue, and the air is just suited to the 
 promotion and enjoyment of regular exercise ; 
 while the dry walks, covered with a flooring 
 of pine leaves, scattered about in such profu- 
 sion in the woody borders of the village, give 
 an agreeable and pleasant variety and sensa- 
 tion while breathing the odor of the pine ; 
 
7& Going South for the Winter. 
 
 and those who can walk find the exercise not 
 at all wearisome, bringing out the delightful 
 glow of renewed health, and rousing the dor- 
 mant energy of all the organs. Of course, 
 prudence must be exercised in walking ; con- 
 sumptive invalids should indulge moderately, 
 and not go into " training " for a walkist. 
 
 The thermometer does not often fall far be- 
 low 32 ° during the winter. In December the 
 thermometer has reached 85 ° as the highest 
 and 70" the lowest. In January the highest 
 temperature has been 75 ° and the lowest 40 °. 
 During the subsequent winter the highest 
 temperature in January was 58 ° and lowest 
 48 °. Although there is nothing in this region 
 to poison the atmosphere, and apparently 
 much to encourage the invalid ; still consump- 
 tive/^//^ die here as well as elsewhere', ejven 
 the bracing dry air of this region will revive 
 those who reach Aiken very much reduced. 
 There are some objections to this climate that 
 the consumptive should know of. 
 
 Fabulous stories are told of sick people who 
 arrived at Aiken, reduced to the last extremi- 
 
 
Going South for the Winter. 77 
 
 ty, and whose subsequent appearance created 
 such a surprise. The accuracy of all such re- 
 ports, consumptives will be at liberty to doubt 
 or believe. I would not have any hopeless 
 invalid deceived by exaggerated stories, either 
 by speculators, hotel men, or ignorant people. 
 It is a very serious business, this going so far 
 from home, and it very often takes all the 
 means at hand to bear the expense ; while in 
 some cases much benefit is received by winter- 
 ing in the South, other cases derive little or 
 no benefit. 
 
 Neither would I have my readers guided by 
 my statements, but only strive to familiarize 
 the sick man with the locality likely to be 
 beneficial ; after which the consumptive must 
 decide which he may do, without such an ex- 
 perience as the writer had in search of the sec- 
 tion for phthisis patients to pass the winter 
 in. 
 
 The climate of the region of country about 
 Aiken — generally reliable — is sometimes sur- 
 prisingly variable, and many who are seriously 
 ill have sometimes to keep in-doors, with a 
 10 
 
7% Going South for the Winter. 
 
 huge pine-wood fire during morning and even- 
 ing, while at noon-day they can come out and 
 enjoy exercise, riding and driving. For those 
 not seriously ill, a slight puff of wind from off 
 the hills will not make them uncomfortable. 
 At times the changes of temperature are sud- 
 den, sharp and serious, sending " all hands" 
 flying to their quarters. 
 
 There is a # scarcity of beef and milk; the 
 cattle of the country are roaming at will, with 
 no protector or provider, till wanted for 
 slaughter, and never fed or housed, but forced 
 to get a scanty subsistence from the brush, 
 leaves, and a tuft of wild grass here and there 
 in the forest and along the roads. Such prov- 
 ender will not make good milk or beef. The 
 only plan, if milk cannot be purchased, is to 
 persuade some one to " put up" their cow and 
 feed the animal, selling you the milk unskim- 
 med ; or hire one of the creatures and furnish 
 her with good fodder. A good goat can be 
 had that will give about as much milk as many 
 of the cows. The cows here are the most 
 miserable specimens in the world ; very small 
 
Going South for the Winter. 79 
 
 and only equalled in starved appearance by 
 the swine of the country. 
 
 A party who suffers from lung diseases, but 
 having plenty of means to provide a good diet 
 and luxuries for his comfort, can live at Aiken 
 all winter with great satisfaction, if he chooses 
 to pay well for extras. The village being only 
 twelve miles from Augusta, Georgia, an inva- 
 lid with means can purchase extras and neces- 
 sary articles of convenience and diet, having 
 all sent daily to him from Augusta. 
 
 Parties of four or five, who wish to club to- 
 gether and live apart from the hotel, can rent 
 a house, furnishing their table for the winter 
 months with daily supplies from Augusta. 
 There is a medicinal spring here which is of 
 no particular account to the consumptive, but 
 which will be bottled up for New York before 
 long, no doubt. 
 
 In selecting a room at the hotel at Aiken, 
 or other resort, choose one on the second floor, 
 where the sun will shine directly through your 
 window during the greater part of the day, 
 and as large a room as possible, with an open 
 
8° Going South for the Winter. 
 
 fire-place, and a free circulation of air. After 
 a winter judiciously spent at Aiken or Augus- 
 tine, with unremitting- attention to the instruc- 
 tions of their physician, I can see no reason 
 (provided nutritious, strong, rich, hearty food 
 can be had) why consumptives should not re- 
 turn home presenting signs of permanent im- 
 provement. 
 
 SOUTH OF FRANCE. 
 
 No one, I imagine, who can have paid much 
 attention to the treatment of pulmonary 
 phthisis would advise a consumptive to leave 
 the " Sunny South" of the United States for a 
 winter residence on the shore of the Mediter- 
 ranean. Dr. Henry Bennet (whose authority 
 on such cases is the best in Europe) says that 
 the warmth and sunshine which the consump- 
 tive can enjoy during the winter months in 
 the climate of the French Mediterranean, is 
 equal almost to the warmth and brightness of 
 the British summer. 
 
Going South for the Winter. 81 
 
 This is gratifying to those consumptives 
 whose home is in London or Paris, and we 
 will not doubt of the beneficial effects of such 
 a genial climate for those who are within a 
 reasonable distance of such latitude, and who 
 can reach the Mediterranean region without 
 the risk of being st ~uck down with violent 
 hemorrhage from over exertion and exposure 
 on the way. If we admit that pulmonary 
 phthisis is a disease of debility and organic 
 exhaustion, what folly it is for the consump- 
 tive of America to exhaust his little remaining 
 strength in knocking about his berth on a 
 twelve-days' sea voyage with prostrating sea- 
 sickness and subsequent waste of strength, in 
 the vain endeavor to reach Madeira or Men- 
 tone. Even if after a wearisome sea voyage, 
 the consumptive should arrive at Havre, it is 
 not at all probable that the diet and lodging 
 would be suited to his case ; while the dan- 
 gerous excitement, constant, tiresome, nervous 
 gazing at the changing scenes, and the Euro- 
 pean manner of living in apartments, often four 
 and five floors up from the street, make it im- 
 
82 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 possible for any one subject to hemorrhages of 
 the lungs to live with safety. 
 
 The wintering places of the South of France, 
 which have proved beneficial for pulmonary 
 invalids, are many, but of no interest to the 
 consumptives of America, who should not ex- 
 haust the small allowance of vitality by the 
 anxiety and effort to "keep up" on a Euro- 
 pean tour. In the case of the consumptive 
 who can have little hope of recovery, for the 
 reason that he will not take the needful care 
 of himself, the only place for such an one is at 
 home, where he can receive fresh instructions 
 from his physicians daily, as new complica- 
 tions arise, and where he will not run the risk 
 of a death-bed among strangers in a strange 
 land. The pulmonary invalid should never 
 think of leaving his native land to cross the 
 ocean, either in the earlier or the advanced 
 stage of the disease, unless one can be assured 
 of unusual advantages, such as can only be 
 provided by an extravagant expenditure of 
 money. 
 
Going South for the Winter, 83 
 
 DIET. 
 
 We all understand that food introduced into 
 the mouth is there crushed, mingled with sa- 
 liva, and passed on into the stomach, where 
 by action of the secretions, it becomes pulp, 
 and is ready to make blood, support and nour- 
 ish the body, while depositing fat in one part 
 and flesh in another. 
 
 There can hardly be a limitation in the quan- 
 tity and quality of food positively necessary to 
 supply material for the unceasing change and 
 waste wearing out the consumptive patient. 
 The nature and efficacy of food in these cases 
 is of the greatest possible importance, and 
 there must be no economy so-called practical 
 in selecting a diet ; the richest, most nutritious 
 and pleasing to the palate, must be had at 
 whatever cost. There is no alternative, the con- 
 sumptive must eat. Before eating food, the 
 question the sufferer with pulmonary con- 
 sumption should answer, is : " Will this food 
 form fat ?" Eat only such food as will make 
 you plump and rubicund ; and eat with care- 
 
$4 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 ful consideration, for the after-labor of the di- 
 gestive apparatus, giving the stomach no un- 
 necessary work by eating innutritious food. 
 Consumptive persons may have four or five 
 meals a day — -breakfast, luncheon, dinner, tea 
 and supper. 
 
 The various articles of diet differ so mate- 
 rially in the amount of nutritive matter, that 
 it is, essential the consumptive should know of 
 the diet best calculated to promote nutrition ; 
 while the digestibility of the food must be 
 considered a necessary part of its nutritive 
 value. It would be well if the consumptive 
 would be dieted by his physician, who has an 
 accurate acquaintance with quantity, quality 
 and efficacy of food beneficial for such patients. 
 Diabetes, diarrhea, dyspepsia, dropsy and 
 other complications, will indicate the variety, 
 and modify or increase the allowance. In 
 choosing a diet, the invalid must consult the 
 immediate requirements of the body, as well 
 as the circumstances of climate, peculiar em- 
 ployment, harassing, mental or physical labor, 
 blood-making power, exposure, active exer- 
 
Going South for the Winter. 85 
 
 cise, perfect or imperfect mastication, sedent- 
 ary habit, age, temperament, and particularly 
 the condition of the digestive apparatus. The 
 dietary must be fitted to the constitutional 
 wants of each individual. 
 
 In some consumptive people, digestion is 
 slow ; in other cases, rapid. In some, a very 
 little excitement or exertion before a meal is 
 enough to banish one's appetite for consequent 
 fretfulness and want of appetite during the 
 day. A particular variety of diet is found 
 insupportable by some consumptives, while 
 exactly suited to the other. Veal (meat) acts 
 almost as a poison when eaten by some, pro- 
 ducing violent vomiting and diarrhea. The 
 most easily digested meats cannot be tolerat- 
 ed by one person, which, for another, is very 
 proper. A selected diet will rapidly make 
 blood for one consumptive, which, for another, 
 will need artificial assistance. 
 
 Persons who are suffering with pulmonary 
 
 consumption, have always a predisposition to 
 
 digestive derangements and bowel affections, 
 
 in consequence of which great care must be 
 
 11 
 
Going South for the Winter. 
 
 exercised in selecting- a nutritious aliment, 
 which, while soothing to the irritable mucous 
 membrane, have sufficient strength in its com- 
 position, besides being stimulating, palatable 
 and supporting in its character. 
 
 There is, in all cases of consumption, a com- 
 plete breaking down of the constitution, and 
 want of proper nutriment increases the diffi- 
 culty. All diseases of a tuberculous and 
 scrofulous character are never mitigated by 
 the patient subjecting himself to a simple re- 
 gime. All the evidence and knowledge we 
 possess of the character of this disease (phthi- 
 sis), point unmistakably to a want of suit- 
 able diet, as one of the active causes of the 
 disease. 
 
 The erroneous notion that a vegetarian diet 
 will support a man in health and strength is a 
 terrible mistake. The wear of the mental, 
 muscular and nervous functions, waste of 
 tissue, and constant work of the viscera, and 
 all the processes undergoing continual wear, 
 even in a healthy man, require an abundant 
 supply of nutriment to repair the loss ; and 
 
Going South for the Winter, 8 7 
 
 surely the consumptive must have an active, 
 restoring diet. 
 
 The consumptive must bear in mind that a 
 strong diet is worth everything in the treatment 
 of his disease ; and the first in the list of art- 
 icles of diet for the phthisis patient is cod liver 
 oil, without which food the progress of the 
 disease will be checked slowly. This indis- 
 pensable food for the consumptive can always 
 be had at home or abroad, and never fails to 
 show its wonderful effects when properly and 
 regularly used. 
 
 The Egyptians instructed their kings, and 
 prescribed by law, the quantity and quality 
 of their food. 
 
 Achilles was bred for a hero, and, it is said, 
 they fed him on the marrow of lions. Galen 
 lived to the age of one hundred and forty, 
 and was never ill till his last moments. His 
 diet consisted always of strong and hearty 
 food ; he considered lettuce as having a seda- 
 tive effect, and used it freely for the last meal 
 of the day. Thomas Parr, a farmer, who 
 lived much in the open air, was a strong 
 
88 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 feeder, and married when he was one hun- 
 dred and twenty years of age. 
 
 We have numerous instances of men living 
 one hundred and twenty, and over one hun- 
 dred and twenty-eight, who were, from neces 
 sity, strong livers ; and we all have heard of 
 the Philadelphia shoemaker, who lived upon 
 the most hearty food, and reached the age of 
 one hundred and fourteen years. It is re- 
 corded of an English fisherman, who, at one 
 hundred 3^ears of age, could swim equal to 
 the smartest boy, his diet being often oat- 
 meal and butter-milk. He died after living 
 one hundred and sixty-nine years. 
 
 All of these hearty, long-lived people made 
 eating an important business of the day, and 
 were unlike our devotees of fashion, who 
 exhibit so much fashionable affectation and 
 mincing at meals as to endanger their health. 
 
 Cases of pulmonary consumption are al- 
 most entirely unknown among a class of 
 South Americans who live on beef. Sir 
 Francis Head says, in his " Notes," " That 
 when he first crossed the Pampas — although 
 
Going South for the Winter. 8 9 
 
 accustomed to riding horseback all his life — he 
 could not at all ride with the natives, who 
 lived on beef and water alone." " But," says 
 Sir Francis, " after I had lived on beef and 
 water for a month, I found myself in a condi- 
 tion which I can only describe by saying, that 
 I felt no exertion could kill me. For weeks," 
 he says, " he would be upon his horse before 
 sunrise, and ride until three hours after sunset, 
 and really tired out twelve horses." This, he 
 states, he could only have done while living 
 on beef. 
 
 The ruinous broth -diet -system is to be 
 avoided by the consumptive, and only such 
 food allowed as will contribute to the forma- 
 tion of fat. 
 
 Milk is of the utmost importance, and must 
 not be used sparingly. Goat's milk is to be 
 preferred to that drawn from the cow. Milk 
 diet for the consumptive cannot be too highly 
 appreciated. Cow's milk, when pure, should be 
 of a yellowish-white color ; its specific grav- 
 ity varies between 1.032 and 1.035. Mare's 
 milk is white in color, thick, like goat's milk ; 
 
9° Going South for the Winter. 
 
 contains a large amount of fat and sugar of 
 milk. Asses' milk is perfectly white, and much 
 sweeter than cow's milk, and rich in sugar of 
 milk. Milk is classed among the most, easily 
 digested articles of food, two hours being the 
 time required for its digestion. Woman's milk 
 is more quickly digested than any known. 
 Goat's milk will not make butter or take on 
 cream. Sheep's milk will make butter, which 
 cannot be used. Cow's milk is the most easily 
 procured and generally used ; but none but 
 that drawn front young, healthy animals should 
 be used. Goat's milk, used medicinally, may 
 be diluted at the first using, to divest it of its 
 peculiar taste, till the stomach becomes ac- 
 customed to it. The importance of some dis- 
 cipline and good order in the management of 
 the dining-room is worth reasonable attention ; 
 and, for the consumptive, it is absolutely ne- 
 cessary to leave all melancholy feelings and 
 reflections " outside " at meal-time. Eat slow, 
 talk slow, and never bring your cares, or allow 
 others to offer their troubles for discussion, at 
 the table in the dining-room. Never permit 
 
Going South for the Winter. 9 1 
 
 any but cheerful conversation. Select for 
 associates the most easy, natural and perfect 
 characters, who will enliven and warm you 
 through-and-through by their boisterous hilar- 
 ity, rollicking fun and round-ringing laughter. 
 Such companions, full of sympathy, kind in 
 heart and pure in life, will drive all anxiety 
 and dread of death from pulmonary consump- 
 tion from your mind. 
 
 " A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a 
 broken spirit drieth the bones." — Proverbs xvii. 22. 
 
 EXEKCISE. 
 
 It is the most preposterous nonsense to sup- 
 pose, that after having forced upon yourself 
 evident physical degeneracy by a merciless 
 application to business or excessive mental 
 activity, with the usual starvation diet — 
 taxing body and mind to such a degree as 
 actually to produce the most disastrous re- 
 sults — to suppose, we say, that your enfeebl- 
 ed stomach, loss of appetite, poverty of blood, 
 failing sight, labored action of the heart, slug- 
 
9 2 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 gish circulation — really having transgressed 
 all the laws of health, bereft of nerve and 
 vigor, that you can, by a few days' bodily 
 exercise, overcome your depressed condition, 
 arrest the destruction of tissue, and regain 
 health and strength ! 
 
 For those consumptives who have such ex- 
 travagant notions regarding the value of exer- 
 cise, we can refer them to the decrees of the 
 great lawgiver Lycurgus, in his ordinances 
 for the physical training of his people. Ly- 
 curgus decreed that all the virgins should 
 exercise themselves in running, wrestling, 
 jumping and quoits, and thus fortified by this 
 exercise, their bodies might be strong and 
 vigorous, and their children the same ; and, 
 in order to extinguish the delicacy of the sex, 
 Lycurgus ordered them, on certain festivals, 
 to appear nude and dance, going through run- 
 ning and wrestling exercises ; and the young 
 men were ordered to go nearly naked on 
 these festive occasions and join in the dance. 
 All this was witnessed by the king and senate. 
 The young men were praised by the multi- 
 
Going South for the Winter. 93 
 
 tude for their bravery, and the virgins cele- 
 brated for their great strength, while- every- 
 thing was conducted with modesty and with- 
 out anything disgraceful in it. The young 
 maidens, we are told, became very strong and 
 brave women, which is seen by the words of 
 the wife of Leonidas, when another woman 
 from a far country said to her, " You of Lace- 
 dasmon are the only women in the world that 
 rule the men ;" she answered, " We are the 
 only women that bring forth men." 
 
 To encourage this sort of exercise, and 
 these public wrestlings and dances, in which 
 we are asked to believe there was always 
 good order and decorum observed, a punish- 
 ment was put upon all those who would in- 
 sist on being unmarried and wished to con- 
 tinue single ; for by Lycurgus's law the time of 
 marriage was fixed. The would-be bachelors 
 were commanded, on these festive occasions, 
 to march naked round the market-place, and, 
 for their disobedience of the law, were not 
 permitted to join in the exercises. Now, 
 here in the decrees of one of the most re- 
 12 
 
94 Going South for the Winter, 
 
 markable men who ever lived, we see to 
 what extremes men will go in their enthu- 1 
 siasm. It is said history repeats itself; we 
 should hope " not so " of Lycurgus's history. 
 Out-of-door exercise, if had in moderation, is 
 conducive to an improved condition of the 
 consumptive invalid, and may be recommend- 
 ed as a necessary part of the treatment of 
 phthisis ; but we desire to impress earnestly 
 upon the consumptive, the fact that exercise 
 carried beyond reason, is the immediate cause 
 of hemorrhage, and attended with the greatest 
 danger. It is for the consumptive to judge 
 of the needful exercise by prudent experi- 
 ment. 
 
 The moment one feels tired, stop. You can- 
 not, after the least sign of weariness, continue 
 to exercise safely ; then you will be obtaining 
 your experimental knowledge at too great 
 hazard ; and you must respect the warning 
 of nature, and try your strength no further, 
 unless you are prepared to bring upon your- 
 self additional trouble. 
 
 Regularity of exercise, when the weather 
 
Going South for the Winter. 95 
 
 permits, with the express purpose, and a gen- 
 eral bearing upon the object in view, cer- 
 tainly is beneficial, increasing the expansion 
 of the lungs. The breathing becomes more 
 deep and full, and the fresh air, a constant 
 stimulant, is respired with pure oxygen, giv- 
 ing renewed energy and power to the vital 
 organs. 
 
 In active or passive exercise, walking or 
 riding in the open air, you escape from the 
 heated, foul air which you constantly breathe 
 in-doors, and which is unfit for respiration. 
 Exercise, while inhaling confined air, will be 
 of little service to the consumptive, as there 
 can be, in such atmosphere, no healthy action 
 of the lungs, while the increasing perspiration, 
 exhalations from the body and particles of 
 fine dust from the floor and carpeting of the 
 room, always floating about, added to the 
 noxious gases of the close apartment, only 
 produce an entire loss of energy and appetite. 
 The necessity for regular exercise, passive or 
 active, being admitted, it then becomes a 
 question for the consumptive, where and 
 
9^ Going South for the Winter. 
 
 when exercise can be had with the most 
 profit ? 
 
 Where, from the elevation of the surround- 
 ing country the air is pure, dry and easily 
 breathed, is evidently most desirable. Hav- 
 ing a choice, the consumptive would, un- 
 doubtedly, select for active exercise the air 
 of a mountainous region ; but, unfortunately 
 for the sufferer, such a salubrious locality can- 
 not be had at pleasure, with the means at 
 command of many who need to breathe and 
 exercise in such an atmosphere. Then the 
 question arises, can any of the schemes pro- 
 posed by the gymnasium afford the desired 
 exercise for the consumptive who must re- 
 main in a crowded city ? All gymnasium ex- 
 ercises in necessarily poorly-ventilated rooms, 
 are subject to difficulties, which interfere 
 much with the natural functions. 
 
 We will not doubt that exercise in the gym- 
 nasium, for those who prefer such violent ex- 
 ercise — jumping and lifting and the dumb- 
 bells — is suited ; still, for anyone, there can be 
 no particular advantage in developing one 
 
Going South for the Winter. 97 
 
 class of muscles by great muscular exertion 
 for which the whole system must suffer ; and 
 the hour selected for gymnastic exercise is one, 
 of all others, the least to be desired. 
 
 After a busy day in the office or on the 
 street — and often the nervous energy and 
 vitality is almost expended — it seems a poor 
 time to exert oneself in jumping and dragging 
 exercise, in the vitiated air of fifty gas burners, 
 while stealing from Nature the hours demand- 
 ed for relaxation and physical rest. The con- 
 sumptive must select the variety of exercise 
 in which the movements are best calculated 
 to expand the chest. For those invalids with 
 phthisis, who go to Florida, rowing exercise 
 (on Matanzas sound or St. John river) is the 
 best possible form. The exercises which bring 
 into play the muscles of the upper extremities 
 are the most proper for the consumptive. 
 The arms must be actively employed as well 
 as the legs, not in lifting, but backward and 
 forward movements, such as pulling a boat, 
 thereby expanding the chest. 
 
9 8 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 STIMULANTS. 
 
 Some over-zealous, but good honest men 
 have in their surpassing goodness opened a 
 crusade upon the physicians who will use as 
 a medicine any alcoholic stimulant. If it were 
 not such a serious matter, it would be very 
 amusing to hear these constitutionally robust 
 men. They know nothing of the concealed 
 cares, troubles, anxiety, worry and vexation 
 of the weakly, almost prostrate, women who 
 are mentally and physically tired out with the 
 every-day annoyances and hubbub of the 
 " servants of the period," whose ignorance is 
 enough to give any housekeeper the hysterics, 
 and despair of all success in domestic manage- 
 ment ; and shall these praiseworthy men, who 
 are never ill, (and who have their convenient 
 club-house, quiet rare-bit, mug of ale and 
 sweet forgetfulness,) expect the physician to 
 look on unmoved without using every means 
 in his power to avert the danger from contin- 
 ued prostration threatening his consumptive 
 patient. 
 
Going South for the Winter, 99 
 
 Every right minded man in the profession 
 is anxious, to see the temperance cause ad- 
 vance ; and in their capacity do full as much 
 for the cause as those, who are so ready 
 to censure the physician. No regular prac- 
 titioner, who intelligently understands the 
 cause and cure of consumption, will be willing 
 to deny his patient with chronic lung disease 
 either good Burton ale, champagne or brandy, 
 with his cod-liver oil. 
 
 Do the robust, hearty men, who know noth- 
 ing of the pain and suffering of the pulmonary 
 invalid, expect the physician to look on with- 
 out the most energetic effort to stay the dis- 
 ease which threatens the life of the consump- 
 tive patient ? And will they tell us that in 
 cases of extreme suffering and exhaustion, we 
 shall not make cautious use of stimulants, 
 which in moderation the patient undoubtedly 
 requires ? 
 
 This is " all bosh," and the most dangerous 
 folly, for which we can have no patience to 
 discuss with the temperance men, who injure 
 the cause by their intemperate struggle to 
 
 d 
 
 * 
 
ioo Going South for the Winter. 
 
 compel every one to accord with their designs. 
 In Captain Bligh's account of the sufferings 
 of himself and companions, in consequence of 
 the mutiny of the crew of his ship, he remarks, 
 " the little rum we had was of great service, 
 when our nights were particularly distressing." 
 
 Sir John Ross says, in his Arctic Expedition, 
 that when experimenting upon the men of two 
 boats' crews, rowing in a heavy sea, the water- 
 drinkers would outdo the men who had an al- 
 lowance of grog ; so that the physician must 
 take the responsibility, without regard to any 
 outside influences ; he alone is responsible for 
 the medical treatment of his patient. The most 
 reviving and active stimulant within the reach 
 of all consumptives is music. Not without 
 reason did Lord Holland treat his horses to a 
 regular weekly concert in the stable, on the 
 plea that music cheered their hearts and mod- 
 ified their temper. 
 
 The influence of sun-light on our pulmonary 
 invalid is really most surprising, and is a pow- 
 erful stimulant, that should be sought for by 
 all consumptives. 
 
Going South for the Winter, I01 
 
 SEA-BATHING. 
 
 The writer has had an experience of many 
 years in sea-water bathing on the coast, and 
 does not hesitate to express a firm belief in the 
 healing properties of sea-water, particularly 
 for nervous, over-worked females, with cold 
 extremities, (who will obtain the most striking 
 and remarkable results from judicious bathing 
 in the ocean). The value of sea-bathing in the 
 treatment of phthisis is not often over-estima- 
 ted. Sea-water is supposed to contain in its 
 composition a minute quantity of sulphates of 
 soda and lime, with bromine and iodine. To 
 be most effectual, sea-water baths should be 
 taken at some point on the coast, and out-of- 
 doors. The action of the air upon the bather 
 having considerable influence for good. The 
 time selected should be at noon-day, before 
 eating. After coming out, have a milk-punch 
 or glass of wine and an hour for rest before 
 eating. 
 
 The consumptive may remain in the water 
 
 13 
 
102 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 five minutes at first, increasing the time to ten 
 minutes. There must be no fighting the wind 
 and waves, but gentle dipping under water 
 only. The water should be pleasantly warm 
 before entering. When " going in," walk from 
 the beach rapidly till you are covered to the 
 arm-pit, and then dive under. There is dan- 
 ger in a dash or hurried plunge into the surf, 
 on account of the severe shock which has 
 sometimes proved very serious for the con- 
 sumptive. The bather must be governed 
 much by his own feelings, unless directly un- 
 der the care of a physician. One can judge of 
 the good or ill effects of sea-water bathing by 
 the sensation after coming out. If after reach- 
 ing the bathing-house the skin has a red and 
 warm look, and there be a feeling of renewed 
 vigor and a general stimulated sensation, that 
 will be positive evidence that the bath has 
 produced good effects. If, on the contrary, 
 there is a slight cough and chilly feeling, a 
 want of glow, and the skin have a cold, rough 
 appearance, the bath should not be repeated, 
 unless by the advice of the physician. 
 
Going South for the Winter. 103 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 One of the great clangers the consumptive 
 has to guard against, is the flattering character 
 of the disease. Very many pulmonary pa- 
 tients lose all they may have gained by judi- 
 cious treatment, by their over-confidence and 
 consequent risk and exposure during bad wea- 
 ther. Those consumptives who should re- 
 main at home and in bed, are too often per- 
 suaded by the flattering but deceitful signs of 
 improvement, to believe that exposure and 
 breathing a cold and raw atmosphere will not 
 be so serious as the physician insists that it 
 will prove. 
 
 Consumptive invalids who have recovered 
 rapidly, often forget that they must continue 
 to fight the disease. Permanent relief can 
 only be secured by constant watchfulness, 
 protection from atmospheric vicissitudes, and 
 everything that may increase the lowered vi- 
 tality. 
 
 . While I would earnestly recommend for 
 persons suffering from pulmonary phthisis. 
 
io4 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 both the grape and the milk cure (particularly 
 the milk treatment), yet these must not be re- 
 lied on for replacing the cod liver oil. It is to 
 be remembered that the disease wearing out 
 the consumptive is a constitutional as well as 
 local disorder, and everything that can im- 
 prove and maintain the highest condition of 
 bodily vigor, is to be eagerly sought for ; 
 while at the same time guarding against all 
 reducing medicines and starvation diet. From 
 the very commencement of the disease, the 
 invalid must consider himself in the greatest 
 danger, and early devote his time and money 
 to re-establishing his health. 
 
 Immediate active and energetic treatment will 
 often prevent further advance of the disease. 
 The influence of hygienic and climatic 
 treatment in retarding the progress of the 
 disease, is admitted by all who have studied 
 the character of phthisis. 
 
 . The wearisome cough must be quieted, and 
 hemorrhages checked in the beginning. The 
 continuous, slow fever consuming the con- 
 sumptive must be watched, and the rapid loss 
 
Going South for the Winter, 105 
 
 of strength, appetite, and general " wasting 
 away," as well as troublesome diarrhea, must 
 be provided for ; stimulants should be given, 
 and, where indicated, brandy and ammonia. 
 Consumptives must be made to take food. 
 Too great quantities, and at irregular inter- 
 vals, may derange the functions of the stom- 
 ach ; but care can be exercised. At all events, 
 the invalid consumptive must be made to eat. 
 
 The manner in which the nurse administers 
 nourishment to the invalid will often banish 
 his appetite. A pleasant, well-meaning and 
 unaffected nurse is a valuable aid in the treat- 
 ment of consumptives. 
 
 The nurse should be cautioned not to ap- 
 proach a patient as if expecting him to de- 
 vour everything with a relish. A teaspoon- 
 ful of this, a forkful of the other, a little jelly 
 and a bit of toast at will, is far better than 
 the obtrusive manner of a nurse who will in- 
 sist on selecting the cuts herself. All the 
 little morsels that are a rarity and a surprise 
 to the invalid, will often excite an appetite 
 which has entirely fled from the call of the 
 
IQ 6 Going South for the Winter. 
 
 sufferer. Wear always flannel next the skin, 
 winter and summer. Keep the pores of the 
 skin open by frequent washings, which will 
 leave the skin free to perform its functions. 
 
 After much special study and careful obser- 
 vation of the peculiar character of this dread- 
 ed disease, and after having repeatedly seen 
 the marvellous results of good treatment, the 
 writer has become a believer in the curability 
 of pulmonary phthisis, or rather that with the 
 influence of climate, judicious advice, suffi- 
 cient rest and repose, agreeable stimulants — 
 all such as affect through sight, hearing, smell 
 and taste, as well as an allowance of strong 
 beer, plentiful use of nourishing soups, oat- 
 meal, beef, mutton, cod liver oil, cream, eggs, 
 with entertaining society, music, and living, 
 if possible, much in the open air, with the 
 positive influence of sunlight and proper ad- 
 ministration of medicines — the disease ma}^ 
 be entirely controlled and its further prog- 
 ress permanently checked. Much, very much, 
 can be done at home to control the disease 
 without " going South for the winter."