In convalescence from acute disease and in many chronic cases, the sensations of the patient are not to be trusted as a guide in the choice of food. In such diseases as yellow fever and typhoid fever to allow the convalescent to follow the dictates of his appetite is to run great risk of a fatal result. In other cases the patient really has no wish in the matter, but it {206} will often be found that one who can think of nothing which he desires to eat, and who will even refuse a dish which he has requested and been thinking about, will eat with enjoyment some unexpected dainty when presented at the right moment and properly served as a skilled nurse knows how to do. The manner of serving the food, independent of its cooking, is not a matter of such small importance that the physician can afford to overlook it, and he will succeed best as a practitioner who best appreciates the influence which cracked goblet, a chipped saucer, a soiled napkin, or, on the other hand, a hot plate or a touch of color in the shape of a leaf or flower, may have upon the capricious appetite of the sick. In ordering diet for convalescence it is not an uncommon error to select only those articles which are agreeable to the physician himself, forgetting the old proverb, that what is one man's meat may be another man's poison, and also that it is above all things desirable to avoid monotony. One doctor always orders chicken, another eggs, a third a mutton-chop, etc. The practice in this respect has probably been unduly influenced by the reports of Beaumont of the results of his observations on Alexis St. Martin, and we still find that the relative digestibility of various articles of food is estimated according to the scale laid down in these reports, with no allowance for individual peculiarities, previous habits, mode of cooking, etc. The secret of success in the diet of convalescence lies mainly in the simplicity of the individual dishes, in varying the different meals, in the manner of serving, and in carefully observing the effects on the sick person, and being guided by the results. To promote appetite and digestion, and to secure refreshing sleep, one of the most important things is fresh air, but in many houses a sick person will obtain but a very limited allowance of this if the physician does not give special attention to the matter. Except in cases of contagious disease, the rules for managing which have been given in a previous section (p. 201), as soon as a patient is sufficiently recovered to be moved for a short time into another room his bedroom should be thoroughly aired and cleansed, and this should be done morning and evening thereafter.