is exhibited to promote a healthy normal habit
in that important part of the vascular
system."

"A liver complaint, Dr. Short! What, then,
it is not Hyperœsthesia?"

"Hyperœsthesia? There is no such disorder
in the books."

"You surprise me," said Mrs. Dodd. "Dr.
Osmond certainly thought it was Hyperœsthesia."
And she consulted her wee tablets to
establish the word.

Meantime, Dr. Short's mind, to judge by his
countenance, was away roaming distant space
in search of Osmond. " Osmond? Osmond? I
do not know that name in medicine."

"O, O, O!" cried Julia, " and they both live
in the same street!" Mrs. Dodd held up her
finger to this outspoken patient.

But a light seemed to break in on Dr. Short.
"Ah! you mean Mr. Osmond: a surgeon. A
very respectable man, a most respectable man.
I do not know a more estimable person — in his
grade of the profession — than my good friend Mr.
Osmond. And so he gives opinions in medical
cases, does he?" Dr. Short paused, apparently
to realise this phenomenon in the world of Mind.
He resumed in a different tone: " You may have
misunderstood him. Hyperœsthesia exists, of
course; since he says so. But Hyperœsthesia is
not a Complaint; it is a Symptom. Of biliary
derangement. My worthy friend looks at
disorders from a mental point; very natural: his
interest lies that way, perhaps you are aware:
but profounder experience proves that mental
sanity is merely one of the results of bodily
health: and I am happy to assure you that,
the biliary canal once cleared, and the secretions
restored to the healthy habit, by these
prescriptions, the Hyperœsthesia, and other
concomitants of hepatic derangement, will disperse,
and leave our interesting patient in the enjoyment
of her natural intelligence, her friends'
affectionate admiration, and above all, of a sound
constitution. Ladies, I have the honour—— "
and the Doctor eked out this sentence by
rising.

"Oh, thank you, Dr. Short," said Mrs. Dodd,
rising with him; " you inspire me with
confidence, and gratitude." As if under the
influence of these feelings only she took Dr. Short's
palm, and pressed it. Of the two hands, which
met for a moment then, one was soft and melting,
the other a bunch of bones; but both were
very white, and so equally adroit, that a double
fee passed without the possibility of a bystander
suspecting it.

For the benefit of all young virgins afflicted
like Julia Dodd, here are the Doctor's prescriptions:

FOR MISS DODD.
R    Pil: Hydrarg: Chlor: Co:
singul: nocte sumend:
Decoc: Aloes Co: [curled z]j
omni mane.
viii. Sept. J. S.

FOR MISS DODD.
Rx    Conf: Sennæ.
Potass: Bitartrat.
Extr: Tarax: a [with macron] a [with macron] [curled Z]ss
Misft: Elect: Cujus sum: [curled Z]j omni mane.
xviii. Sept. J. S.

Id:, Anglicè reddit: per me Carol: Arundin:
The same done into English by me C. R.

FOR MISS DODD.
1. O Jupiter aid us!! Plummer's pill to be
taken every night. 1 oz. compound decoction
of Aloes every morning. 8th Sept. J. S.

FOR MISS DODD.
2. O Jupiter aid us!! with Confection of
Senna, Bitartrate of Potash, extract of Dandelion,
of each half an ounce, let an electuary
be mixed; of which let her take 1 drachm every
morning. 18th Sept. J. S.

"Quite the courtier," said Mrs. Dodd,
delighted. Julia assented: she even added, with
a listless yawn, " I had no idea that a skeleton
was such a gentlemanlike thing; I never saw
one before."

Mrs. Dodd admitted he was very thin.

"Oh no, mamma; thin implies a little flesh.
When he felt my pulse, a chill struck to my
heart; Death in a black suit seemed to steal up
to me, and lay a finger on my wrist: and mark
me for his own."

Mrs. Dodd forbade her to give way to such
gloomy ideas; and expostulated firmly with her
for judging learned men by their bodies. " However,"
said she, "if the good, kind doctor's
remedies do not answer his expectations and
mine, I shall take you to London directly. I
do hope papa will soon be at home."

Poor Mrs. Dodd was herself slipping into a
morbid state. A mother collecting Doctors!
It is a most fascinating kind of connoisseurship;
grows on one like Drink; like Polemics; like
Melodrama; like the Millennium; like any Thing.

Sure enough the very next week she and Julia
sat patiently at the morning levee of an eminent
and titled London surgeon. Full forty patients
were before them: so they had to wait and wait.
At last they were ushered into the presence-
chamber, and Mrs. Dodd entered on the beaten
ground of her daughter's symptoms. The noble
surgeon stopped her civilly but promptly.
"Auscultation will give us the clue," said he, and
drew his stethoscope. Julia shrank, and cast an
appealing look at her mother; but Mrs. Dodd
persuaded her to it by taking part in the
examination, and making it as delicate as possible.
The young lady sat panting, with cheeks flushing
shame, and eyes flashing indignation. The
impassive chevalier reported on each organ in
turn without moving his ear from the key-hole.
"Lungs pretty sound," said he, a little
plantively: " so is the liver. Now for the——Hum?
There is no kardiac insufficiency, I think, neither
mitral nor tricuspid. If we find no tendency
to hypertrophy we shall do very well. Ah, I
have succeeded in diagnosing a slight diastolic