Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/281

 frenzy, by cutting his own throat, and stabbing himself, became perfectly sane; and coming to me, entreated to be allowed to leave the mad-house, as he was sure he should die of the cholera. It was utterly impossible his request could be granted at the moment; in the course of the week he fell a victim to the malady he dreaded."

Our medical man added, "The causes of cholera are quite unknown. I know that the disease is often confined to a space of two or three hundred yards: for instance, deaths occur daily in the madhouse. In the jail, which contained five hundred prisoners, and was not three hundred yards distant, not a case appeared. I was so well convinced of the disease being confined to a certain spot, that I applied for leave to remove all the insane to a spare room in the jail; from the time of their entering the jail, not one man died of cholera.

"The environs, as well as the interior of the madhouse were quite clear and pure; no stagnant water, nothing that could generate disease in any shape."

I mentioned that it was supposed our beloved one had been exposed to the baneful influence of cholera, in passing through Arcot, where it was known to be. He said, "Certainly not, it would not lurk about a person twenty-four hours." Until the moment she was seized she was in perfect health. "I once saw a man, previously in good health, seized with cholera; he was sitting in a chair, talking to me: he dropped—his nervous power quite prostrated; he was perfectly sensible the whole time, and died in a few hours."

I asked, if the sufferings were not very great—the physician replied, "I should think not, from the extreme want of life in the body. The effect of the illness is such, that the vital spark is almost extinguished whilst still the body breathes." He said, "You should not grieve at the speedy termination of her illness; from severe cholera it is hardly possible to recover. Those who do recover, generally linger on for twelve or fourteen days, and then expire in a melancholy state: it is better it should terminate at once ."